Breakdown of Pigen læste beskeden og smågrinte for sig selv.
og
and
pigen
the girl
læse
to read
beskeden
the message
Questions & Answers about Pigen læste beskeden og smågrinte for sig selv.
In English we say "chuckled to herself", so why does the Danish sentence use for instead of til?
In Danish, when someone does an action privately or in isolation, you use the fixed phrase for + reflexive pronoun + selv. While English says "to oneself", Danish always uses for in this specific expression.
Why does the sentence use sig instead of hende?
sig is a reflexive pronoun that points back to the subject of the sentence, which is Pigen (the girl). If the sentence used hende (her), it would mean she was chuckling at a completely different girl.
How is the word smågrinte formed?
It is the past tense of at smågrine (to chuckle). Danish often attaches the prefix små- (small) to a verb to show that an action is happening quietly, mildly, or in a minor way. Here, a "small laugh" becomes a chuckle.
What is the root word for beskeden?
The root word is en besked, which means a message or a piece of information. The -en ending shows it is in the definite form, meaning "the message".