Breakdown of Jeg synes at holdningen er mærkelig, men han er alligevel enig.
jeg
I
være
to be
han
he
men
but
at
that
synes
to think
mærkelig
strange
enig
in agreement
alligevel
anyway, all the same
holdningen
the stance
Questions & Answers about Jeg synes at holdningen er mærkelig, men han er alligevel enig.
Why is synes used here for "think" instead of tror or mener?
We use synes because finding a stance strange is a personal, subjective experience. You use tror for guesses about facts, and mener for considered viewpoints. Because the speaker is just expressing their personal impression, synes is the correct choice.
Why do we say er enig instead of just using a single verb for "agrees"?
In Danish, there is no single verb for "to agree". Instead, you use the verb at være (to be) followed by the adjective enig. So literally, the sentence says he is anyway in agreement.
What are the rules for placing the adverb alligevel in the second half of the sentence?
The second part of the sentence, men han er alligevel enig, is a main clause joined by the conjunction men. In Danish main clauses, central adverbs like alligevel always come immediately after the finite verb, which in this case is er.
How does the word holdningen get its meaning here?
The noun en holdning means an attitude, stance, or opinion. It comes from the verb at holde (to hold), similar to how we might hold an opinion in English. Here it is in the definite form, meaning the stance.
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