Breakdown of Hvad for en skruetrækker ligger i værktøjskassen?
i
in
ligge
to lie (be lying down) / to be located
skruetrækkeren
the screwdriver
hvad for en
which one? what kind of?
værktøjskassen
the toolbox
Questions & Answers about Hvad for en skruetrækker ligger i værktøjskassen?
Why use Hvad for en instead of Hvilken?
Both mean 'Which' or 'What kind of', but hvad for en is much more common in spoken and everyday Danish. We use en here because skruetrækker (screwdriver) is an en-word (common gender). If the noun were an et-word, you would use hvad for et.
Does Hvad for en always mean 'What kind of', or can it mean 'Which specific one'?
It can mean both, depending on the context! Here, it could be asking 'What type of screwdriver is in the toolbox?' (like a flathead or Phillips), or it could be asking 'Which specific screwdriver?' (like the red one or the blue one).
Why does the sentence use ligger (lies) instead of er (is)?
Danish strongly prefers positional verbs like ligger (lies) or står (stands) to describe the location of physical objects. Because a screwdriver typically rests horizontally on its side, it ligger in the toolbox. Using er wouldn't be completely wrong, but it sounds much less natural.
What are the parts that make up the word værktøjskassen?
It is a compound made of værktøj (tool) and kasse (box). The 's' in the middle is a binding letter used to glue the two words together smoothly, and the -n at the very end makes it definite ('the toolbox').
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