Word
Børnene er spændte på julen.
Meaning
The children are excited about Christmas.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Børnene er spændte på julen.
barnet
the child
julen
the Christmas
være spændt på
to be excited about, curious about
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Questions & Answers about Børnene er spændte på julen.
Why is it spændte and not just spændt?
Because adjectives in Danish must agree with the noun they describe. Since børnene (the children) is plural, you must add an -e to the adjective spændt, making it spændte.
Why is the preposition på used here for "about"?
In Danish, being excited about something is expressed with the fixed phrase at være spændt på. Prepositions rarely translate directly between English and Danish, so it is best to memorize spændt på as a set pair.
Why does the sentence use the definite form julen instead of just jul?
In Danish, it is very common to use the definite form of holidays (like julen or påsken) when talking about a specific upcoming holiday or the holiday season in general. English usually just says "Christmas".
How do we get the form børnene from the singular word barn?
Barn (child) has an irregular plural form: børn (children). To make a plural noun definite to mean "the children", you add the suffix -ene. So, børn plus -ene becomes børnene.