Word
Min hobby er at læse.
Meaning
My hobby is reading.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Min hobby er at læse.
Why does the Danish sentence use at læse (to read) instead of an -ing word like 'reading'?
Danish does not have an -ing form (gerund) that acts like a noun. When you talk about an activity in general, like 'reading', Danish uses the infinitive form with at (to). You are literally saying 'My hobby is to read'.
Why is it min hobby and not mit hobby?
Even though hobby is borrowed from English, it has a grammatical gender in Danish. It is an en word (common gender), so you must use the matching possessive pronoun min. If it were an et word (neuter gender), you would use mit.
Why can't I just say Min hobby er læser?
Læser is the present tense verb meaning 'reads' or 'is reading' as an action someone is doing right now. If you said Min hobby er læser, it would sound like 'My hobby is reads'. To name the activity itself, you must use the infinitive form at læse.