Breakdown of Kan forbrugeren minimere affaldet i stedet for at forurene mere?
at
to
kunne
to be able to / can
mere
more / anymore (with a negative)
affaldet
the trash
Questions & Answers about Kan forbrugeren minimere affaldet i stedet for at forurene mere?
Why do we use at forurene here when the English translation uses the "-ing" word "polluting"?
Danish does not have an "-ing" form (gerund) like English does. To say "instead of doing [something]", you have to use the phrase i stedet for at followed by the infinitive form of the verb, which in this case is forurene.
Why is there an at before forurene but not before minimere?
Minimere directly follows the modal verb kan, and modal verbs always take the bare infinitive without at. However, the phrase i stedet for requires at to connect it to the next action, so you must use the full infinitive at forurene.
Why does the sentence use affaldet instead of just affald?
Affaldet is the definite form of the t-word et affald, meaning "the waste". While English can sometimes leave out "the" when talking about waste as a general concept, this Danish sentence specifically refers to "the waste" that the consumer produces, so the definite -et ending is natural here.
How is the word forbrugeren formed?