Word
Vi bruger køleskabet til at opbevare al maden.
Meaning
We use the fridge to store all the food.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Vi bruger køleskabet til at opbevare al maden.
vi
we
maden
the food
bruge
to use / to spend (money, time) / to need (together with the modal of obligation)
at
to
Questions & Answers about Vi bruger køleskabet til at opbevare al maden.
Why do we use til at opbevare here instead of just at opbevare?
In Danish, when you express the specific function or utility of an object (what it is used for), you use til at followed by the infinitive. The verb bruger (use) pairs with the preposition til to explain what the fridge is used for, so we must include til before at opbevare.
Could I use for at opbevare instead of til at opbevare in this sentence?
No, because for at implies a personal intention or motivation (in order to), whereas til at describes the function or utility of an object. Because you are explaining the built-in function of the fridge, til at is the correct choice here.
Why do we use al instead of alt or alle for "all"?
The word for "all" must agree with the gender and number of the noun it describes. Mad is an uncountable common gender word (an en-word). Therefore, we use al for en-words, whereas we would use alt for t-words and alle for plurals.
Why is maden in the definite form (with the -en ending) here?
In Danish, when you use al, alt, or alle to mean "all of a specific thing", the noun that follows must take the definite ending. So "all the food" becomes al maden. If you just said al mad, it would mean "all food" in a broad, universal sense rather than the specific food you own.