Breakdown of Normalt vasker vi arbejdstøjet selv.
vi
we
vaske
to wash
normalt
normally
selv
oneself / myself / yourself / etc. (emphatic)
Questions & Answers about Normalt vasker vi arbejdstøjet selv.
How is the compound noun arbejdstøjet formed, and what happens to the word arbejde?
The word arbejdstøjet (the workwear) is a compound of arbejde (work) and tøjet (the clothes). When arbejde is used as the first part of a compound noun, it drops its final -e and adds the connecting letter -s- (a fugebogstav). This creates the connecting form arbejds- before attaching to the next word.
Why is the definite ending -et added to the very end of arbejdstøjet?
In Danish compound nouns, the gender and definite endings are always determined by the last word in the compound. Because tøj is a neuter noun taking an -et ending, the entire compound arbejdstøj takes the -et suffix at the end, becoming arbejdstøjet.
Why is the word order vasker vi instead of vi vasker?
This is a classic example of the Danish V2 (verb-second) rule. Because the sentence starts with the adverb Normalt (normally), the verb vasker must take the second position in the sentence, which pushes the subject vi immediately after it.
Does the word selv change its form because the subject vi is plural?