Breakdown of Kan du se hjorten bevæge sig?
du
you
se
to see / to look at
kunne
to be able to / can
hjorten
the deer
bevæge sig
to move (physically, be in motion)
Questions & Answers about Kan du se hjorten bevæge sig?
Why is there no at before bevæge?
This is because se (to see) is a verb of perception. Just like in English (where you say "see the deer move", not "see the deer to move"), Danish drops the infinitive marker at when an action is being observed. Therefore, you just use the bare infinitive bevæge.
Why do we need sig at the end of the sentence?
In Danish, the verb at bevæge (to move) requires an object. When someone or something moves their own body or changes physical position, you must use a reflexive pronoun. Since hjorten (the deer) is a third-person noun, we use the third-person reflexive pronoun sig. Literally, the deer is moving itself.
Could I use the present tense bevæger here instead of bevæge?
No, you cannot use bevæger here. When using a verb of perception like se followed by an object and its action, that action must be in the infinitive form (bevæge). If you wanted to use bevæger, you would need to build a new clause, such as: Kan du se hjorten, som bevæger sig? (Can you see the deer that is moving?).
There are three verbs in this sentence (kan, se, bevæge). How does the grammar handle that chain?
Only the first verb in a clause is conjugated. The modal verb kan forces the second verb se into the infinitive. Then, because se is a verb of perception, it forces the third verb bevæge into the bare infinitive without at. This creates a chain where only the very first verb carries the present tense.
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