Word
Konen sagde at indkomstskatten ikke var problemet.
Meaning
The wife said that the income tax was not the problem.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Konen sagde at indkomstskatten ikke var problemet.
være
to be
ikke
not
sige
to say
problemet
the problem
Questions & Answers about Konen sagde at indkomstskatten ikke var problemet.
Why does ikke come before the verb var?
Because at indkomstskatten ikke var problemet is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause introduced by at). In a normal main clause, ikke comes after the verb. However, in Danish subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like ikke must always be placed before the verb.
How is the definite ending on the compound word indkomstskatten determined?
In Danish compound nouns, the gender and the definite ending are always dictated by the final word in the compound. Because skat (tax) is a common gender word (en skat), the entire word takes the -en ending to mean "the income tax", becoming indkomstskatten.
Why is the past tense var used in the second clause instead of the present tense er?
Danish typically follows a rule called "sequence of tenses," much like English. Because the main verb in the sentence, sagde (said), is in the past tense, the verb in the at clause is also shifted back into the past tense (var), even if the tax is still not the problem today.
Why does problemet end in -et?
The word problem is a neuter noun in Danish (et problem). To make it definite ("the problem"), you attach the neuter suffix -et to the end of the word.