Breakdown of Hun har mistet troen på fremtiden.
hun
she
have
to have
på
on / at / in (a language) / of (after nouns like end or start)
fremtiden
the future
miste
to lose (possession)
troen
the belief
Questions & Answers about Hun har mistet troen på fremtiden.
Why use mistet for "lost" here instead of tabt?
In Danish, at miste is used when you lose something abstract, like faith (tro), hope, or a loved one. At tabe is used for dropping or losing concrete, physical objects (like your keys) or losing a game. Since faith is an abstract concept, mistet is the required verb here.
Why do we use the preposition på for "faith in" rather than i?
The noun tro (faith or belief) strictly pairs with the preposition på, mirroring the verb phrase at tro på (to believe in). While English uses "in" for having faith, Danish relies on på for expressing belief, trust, or confidence in an abstract concept.
The English translation just says "faith", but the Danish uses the definite form troen. Why?
Danish frequently uses the definite form for abstract nouns when referring to a concept as a specific whole. Here, it is "the" specific faith in the future. Leaving it as the indefinite tro would sound incomplete or awkwardly general in this specific noun-preposition collocation.
Does fremtiden (the future) always take a definite article in Danish like it does in English?
Yes, in general contexts like this one. Danish treats "the future" as a single, shared reality, so it takes the definite suffix -en. You will mostly only see the indefinite fremtid (a future) when it is modified by an adjective, such as in en lys fremtid (a bright future).
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