Breakdown of Selvom bulen er lille, er kofangeren ødelagt.
være
to be
lille
small
selvom
even though
ødelægge
to ruin / to destroy
bulen
the dent
kofangeren
the bumper
Questions & Answers about Selvom bulen er lille, er kofangeren ødelagt.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with er instead of kofangeren?
This is the Danish V2 (verb-second) rule in action. The entire first part of the sentence (Selvom bulen er lille) acts as a subordinate clause and takes up the first position. Therefore, the main verb er must take the second position immediately after the comma, pushing the subject kofangeren after the verb.
What are the root words that make up kofangeren?
The word for bumper literally translates to the cow catcher! It is a compound of ko (cow) and fanger (catcher), with the definite suffix -en added to the end to mean the.
Since kofangeren is a common gender (en-word), why does ødelagt end with a -t?
Normally, adding a -t to an adjective makes it neuter (an et-word). However, ødelagt is the past participle of the verb at ødelægge (to ruin or destroy), used here as an adjective. Past participles naturally end in -t in their base form, so you use that exact form for singular en-words too without removing the -t.
Are you allowed to write selvom as two separate words?
Yes, you can write it as selv om, and both versions are officially correct in Danish. However, writing it as the single word selvom is much more common when it is used as a conjunction meaning even though.
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