Breakdown of Barnet tilegner sig modersmålet dels ved at lytte, dels ved at tale.
barnet
the child
tale
to speak
at
to
ved
by, next to
Questions & Answers about Barnet tilegner sig modersmålet dels ved at lytte, dels ved at tale.
How does dels ..., dels ... differ in meaning from både ... og ... in this sentence?
While both express that two things are happening, dels ..., dels ... translates to "partly ..., partly ...". It emphasizes that listening and speaking are two distinct components that make up the whole process of acquiring the language. Både ... og ... ("both ... and ...") would just list them as two things the child does, without necessarily implying they are fractions of a whole.
Why is the reflexive pronoun sig used with tilegner here?
The verb at tilegne sig is a fixed reflexive verb meaning "to acquire", "to learn", or "to master" a skill or knowledge. Without the reflexive pronoun, at tilegne means "to dedicate" or "to attribute", which changes the meaning entirely. Since the subject is barnet (the child), the third-person reflexive pronoun is sig.
Why does Danish use ved at lytte instead of a direct translation of the "-ing" word "listening"?
Danish doesn't have a direct equivalent to the English gerund ("-ing" form) for use after prepositions. Instead, when you want to say "by doing" something, Danish uses the preposition ved followed by the infinitive marker at and the verb in its infinitive form. Therefore, "by listening" becomes ved at lytte.
Is it mandatory to repeat ved at in the second half of the sentence?