Breakdown of Chefen prøver at få medarbejderen til at forbedre samarbejdet.
chefen
the boss
prøve
to try
at
to
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
Questions & Answers about Chefen prøver at få medarbejderen til at forbedre samarbejdet.
Why do we need the word 'til' before 'at forbedre'?
This is the core of the causative structure taught in this lesson. When you use få to mean 'get someone to do something', it must be followed by the object (medarbejderen) and then the fixed phrase til at before the infinitive verb (forbedre). You cannot leave out til like you do in English.
Why are there two instances of 'at' in this sentence?
The first at goes with the verb prøver, creating the infinitive phrase 'tries to get' (prøver at få). The second at belongs to the causative structure til at, linking the employee to the action they are being asked to do (til at forbedre).
Could I use the verb 'gøre' (to make/do) instead of 'få' to mean 'make the employee improve'?
No. While English uses both 'make someone do' and 'get someone to do', Danish does not use gøre to cause a person to perform a verb action. You must use the få [nogen] til at construction when someone is persuaded or caused to do something.
How is the noun 'samarbejdet' formed and why does it end in '-t'?
It is a compound noun made from sam- (together) and arbejde (work). Because et arbejde is a neuter noun (a t-word), the compound is also neuter. The -t at the end is the definite suffix, making it 'the collaboration' (samarbejdet).