Breakdown of Lægen sagde at smerten nok forsvinder snart.
lægen
the doctor
sige
to say
snart
soon
at
that
forsvinde
to disappear
nok
probably (I suppose)
smerten
the pain
Questions & Answers about Lægen sagde at smerten nok forsvinder snart.
Why is nok placed before the verb forsvinder?
Because this is a subordinate clause introduced by at. In Danish main clauses, the verb comes second, but in subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like nok, ikke, or altid must come between the subject (smerten) and the verb (forsvinder).
Doesn't nok usually mean "enough"? Why is it translated as "probably"?
While nok does mean "enough" in many contexts, it is also very commonly used as an adverb to express likelihood. Here, it softens the statement to mean "probably" or "most likely".
Why is the present tense forsvinder used to mean "will disappear"?
Danish often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially when there is a time word in the sentence that makes the context clear. Here, the word snart (soon) tells us it will happen in the future, so the present tense is all you need.
Is it okay to leave out at like we often leave out "that" in English?
Yes, just like in English, you can often drop at in everyday speech. However, keeping at makes the sentence structure clearer and is a good reminder to use the special word order for subordinate clauses.
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