Learn Danish: To år senere blev de gift. - Two years later they got married.

Because the sentence starts with the time expression To år senere (Two years later). Danish uses the verb-second (V2) rule, meaning the verb must be the second grammatical element in the sentence. Therefore, blev has to swap places with the subject de.

Why do we use blev instead of a Danish word for 'got'?

In English, you say 'got married', but Danish uses blive (to become) for most changes of state. You cannot use få (to get) in this context; instead, you literally say that they 'became married' (blev gift).

Since the subject de is plural, why doesn't gift have a plural ending (gifte)?

Usually, adjectives get an -e at the end for plural subjects. However, gift is a strict exception when used as an adjective after verbs like være (to be) or blive (to become). It stays as gift whether the subject is singular or plural.

Does the word gift also mean 'poison'?

Yes, it does! Gift is a well-known homonym in Danish, meaning both 'married' and 'poison' (or 'venom'). While it is a fun coincidence for language learners, native speakers rely on context, which makes the meaning perfectly clear here.