Breakdown of Hvad for et bræt har vi brug for?
vi
we
have brug for
to need
brættet
the board
hvad for et
what kind of (neuter)
Questions & Answers about Hvad for et bræt har vi brug for?
Why do we use hvad for et instead of hvad for en here?
The phrase hvad for et means "what kind of" or "which" in spoken Danish. It must match the gender of the noun it describes. Because bræt (board) is a neuter noun (a t-word, et bræt), you must use et. If it were a common gender noun (an n-word), you would use hvad for en.
The word for appears twice in this sentence. Is that a mistake?
No, it is perfectly correct. The first for is part of the interrogative phrase hvad for et ("what kind of"). The second for belongs to the fixed verb phrase at have brug for ("to need"). They belong to two completely different grammar structures that just happen to land in the same sentence.
How does har vi brug for translate to "do we need"?
Danish does not have a single everyday verb for "to need". Instead, it uses the fixed phrase at have brug for, which literally translates to "to have use for". To make it a question, the verb har comes before the subject vi, leaving brug for at the end.
Why is the second for stranded at the very end of the sentence?
Just like in English ("What kind of board do we have use for?"), Danish frequently puts the preposition at the end of a sentence when the object of that preposition (hvad for et bræt) is moved to the front to form a question.
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