Questions & Answers about Bussen er forsinket fordi de reparerer gaden.
Why does this sentence use fordi instead of på grund af?
Fordi (because) is a conjunction, which means it must be followed by a full clause containing a subject and a verb—in this case, de reparerer. På grund af means "because of" and is a preposition, so it can only be followed by a noun phrase. To use it here, you would have to rewrite the sentence, for example: Bussen er forsinket på grund af vejarbejde (The bus is delayed because of roadwork).
Does the word forsinket (delayed) change depending on the subject?
Yes. Forsinket is a participle acting as an adjective here. Because bussen is a singular en-word, it takes the standard form forsinket. If the subject were plural, like busserne (the buses), you would add an -e to make it forsinkede. Note that for neuter t-words, like toget (the train), it remains forsinket.
If I wanted to add an adverb like ofte (often) to the second part of the sentence, where would it go?
It would go before the verb, making it: ...fordi de ofte reparerer gaden. This is because fordi starts a subordinate clause (a dependent sentence). In Danish, central adverbs like ofte or ikke are always placed between the subject and the verb in subordinate clauses, unlike in main clauses.
Could I use vejen instead of gaden here?