Questions & Answers about I nat kom frosten.
Why does i nat mean "last night" here instead of "tonight"?
The phrase i nat changes meaning based on the tense of the verb. Because the verb kom is in the past tense, i nat refers to the night that just passed, meaning "last night". If the verb were in the future tense, it would mean "tonight".
Why is the verb kom placed before the subject frosten?
Danish uses the V2 rule, meaning the verb must be the second main element in a main clause. Since the sentence starts with the time phrase I nat, the verb kom has to come next, which pushes the subject frosten to the third position.
Could I use i går aftes instead of i nat to say "last night"?
You could, but they refer to slightly different times. The phrase i går aftes means "yesterday evening" and usually refers to the time before you go to bed. The phrase i nat specifically refers to the middle of the night. Since frost typically arrives late when people are sleeping, i nat is the most natural choice here.
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