Word
Mange mennesker er bange for hajer.
Meaning
Many people are afraid of sharks.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Mange mennesker er bange for hajer.
Why is the preposition for used here instead of a word meaning "of"?
In Danish, the fixed expression for "afraid of" is bange for. Prepositions rarely translate one-to-one between languages, so it is best to memorize bange for as a single chunk of vocabulary.
Does the adjective bange change its ending because mennesker is plural?
No, it stays the same. Adjectives that already end in -e in their basic dictionary form, like bange, are invariable. This means they do not add an extra -e for the plural, nor do they add a -t for neuter nouns.
Could I use folk instead of mennesker in this sentence?
Yes, mange folk would also be grammatically correct. However, mennesker emphasizes "humans" as a biological species, which creates a natural contrast when talking about wild animals like sharks. Folk is more casual and refers to people in a general social sense.
Why do we use mange instead of meget?
We use mange because mennesker is a countable plural noun. This is exactly like the difference between "many" and "much" in English. You use mange for things you can count, and meget for uncountable things like coffee or time.