Breakdown of Det er for svært at lære uden at repetere notaterne.
være
to be
det
it (neuter)
at
to
lære
to learn
svær
difficult
for
too
uden
without
repetere
to review (revise)
notatet
the note
Questions & Answers about Det er for svært at lære uden at repetere notaterne.
Why do we use uden at repetere instead of an '-ing' word like in English?
English uses the '-ing' form (the gerund) after prepositions, like 'without reviewing'. Danish doesn't have an exact equivalent to this, so instead it uses the preposition uden followed by at plus the infinitive verb. You will see this pattern often in this lesson: ved at (by doing) and uden at (without doing).
Does repetere just mean 'to repeat'?
It can, but in a school or learning context like this sentence, at repetere specifically means 'to review' or 'to revise' study material. If you want someone to repeat spoken words, you would normally use the verb at gentage instead.
How is the word notaterne formed?
It is the definite plural ('the notes') of the neuter noun et notat (a note). To form the plural you add -er to get notater (notes), and then you add the definite plural suffix -ne to get notaterne.
Why does the sentence start with Det instead of Den?
Det is used here as a dummy subject, exactly like 'It' in the English phrase 'It is too difficult'. When making general statements about an action or a situation (like the act of learning), Danish always uses the neuter form det rather than the common gender den.
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