Breakdown of Bilen kørte ind i et træ fordi farten var for høj.
være
to be
bilen
the car
et
a / an (neuter)
køre
to drive / to ride (a bike) / to run (of a train or bus service)
i
in
træet
the tree
for
too
fordi
because
ind
in, into
høj
tall, high
farten
the speed
Questions & Answers about Bilen kørte ind i et træ fordi farten var for høj.
Why is it kørte ind i et træ and not just kørte i et træ?
The phrase ind i indicates direction or a collision. If you just said kørte i et træ, it would sound like you were driving around inside the tree itself! Using ind i clearly shows the car moved from the outside and crashed into it.
What happens to the word order after fordi in this sentence?
The word fordi (because) starts a subordinate clause, which means it uses straight word order where the subject comes before the verb: farten var. Also, if you needed a small adverb like ikke (not), it would go between the subject and the verb: fordi farten ikke var for høj.
Doesn't for usually mean "for"? Why is it used here as "too"?
When placed directly in front of an adjective like høj (high), the word for translates to "too" or "excessively". So for høj means "too high". This is a very common pattern, just like for stor (too big) or for dyr (too expensive).
Could I use the word hastigheden instead of farten for "the speed"?
Yes, you can! Both farten and hastigheden mean "the speed" and are interchangeable here. The word farten is very common in everyday speech, while hastigheden is slightly more formal, but both are perfectly natural for a car's speed.
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