Learn Danish: I går forsov han sig. - Yesterday he overslept.

The verb at forsove sig (to oversleep) is reflexive in Danish, meaning you literally express that you oversleep yourself. If the subject were jeg, the sentence would be I går forsov jeg mig.

Why does the verb forsov come before the subject han?

This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. Since the sentence starts with the time expression I går, the verb must take the second position. This forces the subject han to invert and take the third position.

How does the prefix for- change the meaning of the root verb at sove?

In Danish, adding the prefix for- to a verb often implies doing something incorrectly or to a negative extreme. While at sove simply means to sleep, at forsove sig means you slept too much and missed your alarm. You can see this same pattern in verbs like at forspise sig (to overeat).

How do I conjugate forsov in the present and perfect tenses?

It follows the exact same irregular pattern as its root verb at sove. The present tense is forsover sig, and the present perfect is har forsovet sig.