Breakdown of Underskriver du kontrakten i dag, er den gyldig.
være
to be
du
you
den
it (common)
i dag
today
underskrive
to sign (a document, contract)
kontrakten
the contract
gyldig
valid
Questions & Answers about Underskriver du kontrakten i dag, er den gyldig.
Why doesn't this sentence use hvis (if) to mean "If you sign"?
In Danish, you can drop hvis and create an "if" condition by putting the verb first (V1 word order). So Underskriver du means the exact same thing as Hvis du underskriver. This structure is very common in both written and spoken Danish.
Why is the second part of the sentence er den gyldig instead of den er gyldig?
The first part of the sentence (Underskriver du kontrakten i dag) acts as a single block that occupies the first position. Because Danish main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule, the verb er must come immediately after that conditional block, pushing the subject den to the third position.
Does underskriver literally translate to "under writes"?
Yes! While English uses "sign", Danish uses underskriver (from under and skriver) for signing a document. The noun for a signature is built the same way: en underskrift.
Why is it gyldig and not gyldigt?
Adjectives must agree with the gender of the noun they describe. Gyldig (valid) refers back to kontrakten, which is an en-word (common gender). If it were describing an et-word, you would add the "-t" to make it gyldigt.
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