Word
Før vagten vågnede, var pengeskabet blevet tømt.
Meaning
Before the guard woke up, the safe had been emptied.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Før vagten vågnede, var pengeskabet blevet tømt.
være
to be
før
before
vågne
to wake up
tømme
to empty
Questions & Answers about Før vagten vågnede, var pengeskabet blevet tømt.
Why do we use var instead of havde for 'had' in var pengeskabet blevet tømt?
To form the past perfect passive, Danish uses the verb blive (to become/be). Just like verbs of motion, blive uses være (to be) as its helper verb instead of have. Therefore, 'had been' translates to var blevet (literally 'was become') rather than havde blevet.
Why does the second half of the sentence start with the verb var rather than the subject pengeskabet?
This is the V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire first clause, Før vagten vågnede, acts as position one. To keep the main verb in the second position, the verb var and the subject pengeskabet must swap places.
Why is there no word for 'up' after vågnede?
In Danish, the verb vågne inherently means 'to wake up' all on its own. While you might occasionally hear vågne op, it is usually unnecessary and is often just an influence from English.
Could we use the s-passive instead to say 'had been emptied'?
No. While you can use the s-passive for the simple past tense (saying pengeskabet tømtes for 'the safe was emptied'), it is almost never used in perfect tenses. To say something 'has been' or 'had been' done, Danish strictly prefers the blive-passive.