Word
Jeg gav hende ordren, men hun nægtede at gøre det.
Meaning
I gave her the order, but she refused to do it.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Jeg gav hende ordren, men hun nægtede at gøre det.
jeg
I
hun
she
det
it (neuter)
hende
her (object)
Questions & Answers about Jeg gav hende ordren, men hun nægtede at gøre det.
Why do we use the neuter det in gøre det when ordren is an -en word?
The word det is not pointing back to the noun ordren. Instead, gøre det acts as a clausal substitution standing in for the entire implied action of carrying out the order. Whenever a pronoun refers back to a whole idea or action rather than a specific noun, Danish uses the neuter det.
Could we drop det and just say hun nægtede at gøre, similar to how we might drop it in English?
No, Danish requires the object det here. The verb gøre is transitive and needs a direct object in this context. While English can sometimes leave the action implied, Danish demands gøre det to grammatically complete the thought.
Why isn't there a preposition like til before hende?
Danish often uses a double-object construction exactly like English does in 'I gave her the order'. The indirect object (hende) simply sits right before the direct object (ordren) without needing a preposition.
Does the conjunction men change the word order in the second half of the sentence?
No, men is a coordinating conjunction linking two main clauses. Because of this, the second clause (hun nægtede at gøre det) keeps regular main clause word order, with the subject (hun) placed immediately before the verb (nægtede).