Word
Hans morfar døde i to tusind og ti.
Meaning
His grandfather died in 2010.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Hans morfar døde i to tusind og ti.
Does morfar mean any grandfather?
No, Danish has specific words for grandparents depending on which side of the family they belong to. The word morfar literally means mother-father, making him the maternal grandfather. If it were the father's father, the word would be farfar.
Why do we use hans here instead of sin?
The word sin (his or her own) is used when the owner is the subject of the sentence. However, in this sentence, Hans morfar (His grandfather) is the subject doing the action. You cannot use sin as part of the subject itself, so you must use the regular pronoun hans.
How does the verb døde get its past tense form?
The basic dictionary form of the verb is dø (to die). To talk about the past, regular Danish verbs often add -de or -te. Because dø is a short base verb ending in a vowel, it simply adds -de to become døde.
Why is there an og in to tusind og ti?
When pronouncing years or large numbers, Danish adds og (and) before the tens or units. So 2010 is spoken exactly like two thousand and ten in English. In everyday Danish text, this would usually just be written with the digits 2010.