Breakdown of Printeren stopper hvis vi bruger alt blækket.
vi
we
bruge
to use / to spend (money, time) / to need (together with the modal of obligation)
hvis
if
stoppe
to stop
al
all, all of
printeren
the printer
blækket
the ink
Questions & Answers about Printeren stopper hvis vi bruger alt blækket.
Why do we use "alt" here instead of "al" or "alle"?
We use alt because it is the neuter singular form of "all", which matches the et-word blæk (ink). If the noun were an en-word, we would use al (like al maden - all the food), and for countable plurals, we use alle (like alle bilerne - all the cars).
Why does the sentence use the definite form "blækket" directly after "alt"?
In Danish, when you want to say "all the [noun]" (referring to a specific amount), you use the quantifier (al, alt, or alle) immediately followed by the definite form of the noun. Therefore, "all the ink" is alt blækket. If you just said alt blæk, it would mean "all ink" in a general, worldwide sense.
Is it possible to use "at bruge op" (to use up) here instead of just "bruger"?
Yes! While bruger alt blækket (uses all the ink) sounds perfectly natural and implies the ink is gone, you could also say bruger alt blækket op to put extra emphasis on the fact that the ink is being completely depleted.
Why isn't there any inversion (verb before subject) in this sentence?
Because the main clause (Printeren stopper) comes first, it follows normal subject-verb word order. The word hvis (if) starts a subordinate clause, which also keeps the standard subject-verb order (vi bruger). If you flipped the sentence around to start with "if", the main clause would then need inversion because of the V2 (verb-second) rule: Hvis vi bruger alt blækket, stopper printeren.
Learn Printeren stopper hvis vi bruger alt blækket and more in Danish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free