Breakdown of Hvem end sejleren er, kigger hun i kikkerten.
være
to be
hun
she
i
in
hvem
who
kigge
to look
end
-ever (after a question word: whatever, whoever)
sejleren
the sailor
kikkerten
the binoculars
Questions & Answers about Hvem end sejleren er, kigger hun i kikkerten.
How does hvem end work here to mean "whoever"?
In Danish, you can add end after a question word to express that it does not matter what the answer to the question is. Combining hvem (who) with end translates directly to "whoever" or "no matter who".
Why is the verb kigger placed before the subject hun?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire subordinate clause (Hvem end sejleren er) takes up the first position in the sentence. The main clause's verb (kigger) must take the second position, so it switches places with the subject (hun).
Sejleren is an -en word, so why does the sentence use hun instead of den?
When referring to people, Danish uses the person's biological pronoun (han or hun) rather than the noun's grammatical gender (den). Because the sailor is a woman, the pronoun is hun.
Why does the sentence use the preposition i and a singular noun for "binoculars"?
Prepositions and plural forms often do not translate word-for-word. In Danish, a pair of binoculars is a singular object (en kikkert), and the natural preposition is i (in) because you look into the lenses, whereas English uses a plural noun and says "looking through".
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