Breakdown of Hvor er den smal! Broen er for smal til at krydse.
være
to be
den
it (common)
at
to
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
for
too
broen
the bridge
krydse
to cross
hvor
how (in exclamations)
smal
narrow
Questions & Answers about Hvor er den smal! Broen er for smal til at krydse.
Why do we use til at instead of just at before krydse?
In Danish, when you express that something is "too [adjective] to [verb]", you must use the structure for [adjective] til at [infinitive]. You cannot drop the til. So, "too narrow to cross" translates directly to for smal til at krydse.
Why is the word order Hvor er den smal instead of "Hvor smal er den"?
In Danish exclamations using hvor (how), the adjective is usually placed at the end of the clause. The standard word order is Hvor + verb + subject + adjective. This is why "How narrow it is!" becomes Hvor er den smal!
Could I use Hvordan instead of Hvor in the first sentence?
No, hvordan is only used to ask in what way or by what method something is done. When "how" is used to express the degree of an adjective, such as in the exclamation "How narrow!", you must always use hvor.
Why does the first sentence use den and smal rather than det and smalt?
The pronoun den refers forward to broen (the bridge) in the next sentence. Because bro is a common-gender noun (en bro), it uses the pronoun den for "it". Accordingly, the adjective smal stays in its basic form without a -t ending.
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