Breakdown of Dåseåbneren er til at åbne dåsemaden.
være
to be
at
to
åbne
to open
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
Questions & Answers about Dåseåbneren er til at åbne dåsemaden.
Why does this sentence use til at åbne instead of for at åbne?
This highlights the core difference between utility and intention! You use til at (followed by an infinitive) to describe the function of an object—what it is designed or used for. In this case, a can opener's job is opening cans. You use for at when describing the purpose or intention of an action, meaning 'in order to'.
The English translation says 'for opening'. Why doesn't Danish use an '-ing' word here?
Danish doesn't have a direct equivalent to the English '-ing' form (the gerund) when used after prepositions. Whenever an English sentence uses a preposition followed by an '-ing' verb (like 'for opening' or 'by doing'), Danish almost always uses a preposition followed by the infinitive marker at and the infinitive verb, which is why we see til at åbne here.
Both dåseåbneren and dåsemaden are compound words ending in -en. How do we know their gender?
In Danish, compound words always take the gender of the last noun in the chain. Since both en åbner (an opener) and en mad (a food) are common gender words, the combined words en dåseåbner and en dåsemad are also common gender, taking the -en suffix to mean 'the'.
What is the relationship between åbneren and åbne in this sentence?