Word
På trods af at han har travlt, arbejder han på internatet for gadehundens skyld.
Meaning
Despite the fact that he is busy, he works at the shelter for the sake of the street dog.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of På trods af at han har travlt, arbejder han på internatet for gadehundens skyld.
han
he
arbejde
to work
på
on / at / in (a language) / of (after nouns like end or start)
have travlt
to be busy
Questions & Answers about På trods af at han har travlt, arbejder han på internatet for gadehundens skyld.
How does the phrase for gadehundens skyld work here?
This is the circumposition for ... skyld, which translates to (for the sake of). The noun or pronoun placed in the middle must be in the genitive (possessive) form. Here, the noun gadehund (street dog) is in the definite form gadehunden, and we add an -s to make it gadehundens.
Why is the word order arbejder han instead of han arbejder?
This is a great example of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire subordinate clause På trods af at han har travlt acts as the first element of the main sentence. Because the main verb must always be in the second position, arbejder comes immediately after the comma, pushing the subject han to the third position.
Could I just write På trods af han har travlt without the word at?
No, you need at here. The phrase på trods af means (despite) and normally requires a simple noun phrase, like på trods af regnen (despite the rain). Because han har travlt is a full clause with its own subject and verb, you must use at to link it to the preposition.
Why do we use the preposition på in the phrase på internatet?