Breakdown of Hun siger at aftalen er rentabel forudsat at vi reducerer omkostningerne.
være
to be
hun
she
vi
we
sige
to say
at
that
aftalen
the appointment / the agreement
reducere
to reduce
omkostningen
the expense (cost, overhead)
forudsat at
provided that
rentabel
profitable
Questions & Answers about Hun siger at aftalen er rentabel forudsat at vi reducerer omkostningerne.
Does forudsat at trigger inverted word order in the clause that follows it?
No. Forudsat at acts as a subordinating conjunction, which means it introduces a subordinate (dependent) clause. In Danish subordinate clauses, you keep straight word order (Subject + Verb). That's why we see vi reducerer rather than reducerer vi. Also remember that if you added a central adverb like ikke, it would go before the verb in this clause: forudsat at vi ikke reducerer...
Could I just use hvis instead of forudsat at here?
Grammatically, yes. However, forudsat at translates to "provided that" or "on the condition that." It is more formal and emphatic than a simple hvis (if), making it perfect for business and legal contexts like discussing whether an aftale (agreement) is rentabel (profitable).
Is the word rentabel related to paying "rent"?
No, that is a false friend! Rentabel means "profitable" or "economically viable." It actually stems from the Danish word rente, which means "interest" (in the financial sense). If you want to talk about paying rent for an apartment, you need the word husleje.
Why aren't there any commas before at or forudsat at?
This sentence is written using the modern Danish rules that allow you to drop the "start comma" before a subordinate clause. Danish has two accepted comma systems. In the traditional system, you would place a comma before every subordinate clause: Hun siger, at aftalen er rentabel, forudsat at vi reducerer omkostningerne. Dropping them is completely optional but very common in modern writing.
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