Breakdown of Kender du et sted hvor man kan spise?
du
you
et
a / an (neuter)
spise
to eat
hvor
where
kende
to know
kunne
to be able to / can
man
one, you (people in general)
stedet
the place
Questions & Answers about Kender du et sted hvor man kan spise?
Why does the sentence use Kender instead of Ved for the word know?
In Danish, there are two common words for to know. Use kender when you are talking about being familiar with a person, place, or thing. Use ved when you know a fact or a piece of information. Since we are asking about being familiar with a place (et sted), kender is the correct choice.
The English translation says where 'you' can eat, but the Danish sentence uses man. Why not du?
In English, the word you is often used to mean people in general. In Danish, you cannot use du for this general meaning. Instead, you must use the pronoun man (which means one or people in general). If you used du here, it would sound like you are asking about a place where only that specific person you are talking to is allowed to eat.
Why do we use hvor here instead of som or der?
Danish uses hvor (where) because it refers to an action happening at a physical location. You use som or der when the connecting word means that or which and acts directly as a subject or object in the phrase, but for referring to a location, hvor is the natural choice.
Why does spise end in -e instead of the present tense -er?
The word spise (to eat) is in the infinitive form because it comes directly after the helper verb kan (can). In Danish, just like in English, modal helper verbs like can, must, or will are always followed by the basic dictionary form of the main verb without the present tense ending.
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