Breakdown of Medmindre alle er parate, udskyder vi mødet.
være
to be
vi
we
mødet
the meeting
alle
everyone; all
medmindre
unless
parat
ready (prepared)
udskyde
to postpone
Questions & Answers about Medmindre alle er parate, udskyder vi mødet.
Why does the second part of the sentence start with the verb udskyder instead of the subject vi?
This is because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire subordinate clause (Medmindre alle er parate) counts as the first block of information in the sentence. Since the verb must come second, the main clause starts with the verb udskyder, pushing the subject vi right after it.
Why is there an -e at the end of parate?
In Danish, adjectives must agree with the noun or pronoun they describe. Because alle (everyone) is treated as a plural concept, the adjective parat (ready) takes the plural -e ending to become parate.
Could I use hvis ikke instead of medmindre?
Yes! You could rewrite it as: Hvis ikke alle er parate, udskyder vi mødet (or Hvis alle ikke er parate...). Both mean the same thing, but medmindre is a very natural, single-word way to say 'unless' that is highly common in everyday Danish.
How does the word order change if I put the main clause first?
If you start with the main clause, the sentence goes back to standard subject-verb order: Vi udskyder mødet, medmindre alle er parate. Because you are no longer starting the entire sentence with the medmindre clause, you don't need to invert vi and udskyder.
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