Breakdown of Hun kører traktoren hvad enten den er ny eller gammel.
være
to be
hun
she
den
it (common)
køre
to drive / to ride (a bike) / to run (of a train or bus service)
ny
new
gammel
old
eller
or
hvad enten
whether (often with 'or')
traktoren
the tractor
Questions & Answers about Hun kører traktoren hvad enten den er ny eller gammel.
Why do we use hvad enten here instead of om for 'whether'?
While om is used for indirect questions (like 'I wonder whether...'), hvad enten is used to mean 'regardless of whether.' It sets up alternative conditions (ny or gammel) that do not change the main action (she still drives the tractor).
What happens if I forget the word hvad and just write enten den er ny eller gammel?
Without hvad, the phrase enten ... eller simply means 'either ... or.' Adding hvad in front is required to create the 'whether ... or' meaning used for alternative conditions.
Does hvad enten trigger subordinate clause word order?
Yes, it acts as a subordinate conjunction. In this specific sentence, the word order looks the same as a main clause because there is no central adverb (like ikke or altid). If you added one, it would go between the subject and the verb: ...hvad enten den faktisk er ny eller gammel.
Why do ny and gammel take their base forms without any endings here?
They refer back to the pronoun den, which stands in for traktoren. Since traktor is a singular common gender (en) noun, the adjectives take the basic en-form, meaning no -t or -e is added.
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