Breakdown of Børnene ser dyret bevæge sig langsomt.
barnet
the child
se
to see / to look at
langsom
slow
dyret
the animal
bevæge sig
to move (physically, be in motion)
Questions & Answers about Børnene ser dyret bevæge sig langsomt.
Why is there no at before bevæge?
Just like in English (where we say see the animal move, not see the animal to move), Danish drops the infinitive marker at after verbs of perception like ser (see), hører (hear), or mærker (feel). This is called a bare infinitive.
Why do we need the word sig here?
The verb at bevæge (to move) is reflexive in Danish when the subject is moving its own body. Since dyret (the animal) is doing the moving, we must use the third-person reflexive pronoun sig (itself). Without sig, bevæge would mean moving a separate object.
Why does langsomt end in a -t?
It gets a -t because it is acting as an adverb describing exactly how the animal moves. In Danish, you generally form an adverb by adding -t to the base adjective (in this case, langsom).
Could we use flytte instead of bevæge for moving?
Not in this context. at bevæge sig means making physical bodily movements. at flytte sig means changing your location from one place to another (like moving out of the way or moving to a new house).
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