Breakdown of Manden elsker portrættet han fik af kunstneren selv.
han
he
manden
the man
elske
to love
få
to get, to receive / to have (children)
af
from (a source, e.g. borrow from)
selv
oneself / myself / yourself / etc. (emphatic)
kunstneren
the artist
portrættet
the portrait
Questions & Answers about Manden elsker portrættet han fik af kunstneren selv.
Why isn't there a word for "that" or "which" between portrættet and han?
In Danish, just like in English, you can drop the relative pronoun som (that or which) when it is the object of the relative clause. Because han (he) is the subject of the action fik (got), the word som can be safely left out. You could also correctly say portrættet som han fik.
Why do we use af kunstneren instead of fra kunstneren to say "from the artist"?
When receiving something given or created by a specific person, Danish often uses af rather than fra. While fra generally focuses on a physical starting point or location, af points to the person who is the source or agent of the action.
How does the word selv function at the end of this sentence?
The word selv acts as an intensifier here, meaning "himself". It directly follows kunstneren (the artist) to emphasize that the portrait came from the artist in person, rather than through an assistant or an art gallery.
Why does portrættet have a double 't' in the middle?
The base word is the neuter noun et portræt (a portrait). When adding the definite suffix -et to make it "the portrait", the final consonant is doubled because it comes immediately after a short, stressed vowel. This gives us portrættet.
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