Word
Hans brev er ikke tilgængeligt idet det ligger i arkivet.
Meaning
His letter is not accessible, since it lies in the archive.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hans brev er ikke tilgængeligt idet det ligger i arkivet.
være
to be
det
it (neuter)
brevet
the letter
i
in
Questions & Answers about Hans brev er ikke tilgængeligt idet det ligger i arkivet.
How does idet differ from fordi or da in this sentence?
Idet translates to "since," "as," or "in that" and is used to give a reason or background information. It is quite formal and mostly used in written Danish. In everyday speech, you would almost always use fordi (because) or da (as/since) instead.
Is the clause starting with idet a main clause or a subordinate clause?
It is a subordinate clause. Idet is a subordinating conjunction. This means that if you needed to negate this part of the sentence, the adverb ikke (not) would go before the verb: idet det ikke ligger i arkivet.
Why does tilgængeligt end in a -t?
The adjective tilgængelig (accessible) takes a -t ending here to agree with the subject of the sentence, Hans brev. Because brev is an et-word (neuter), the adjective must match it.
Why does the sentence use ligger instead of er for the letter being in the archive?
Danish prefers to use positional verbs like ligger (lies) or står (stands) rather than just er (is) to describe where physical objects are. Because a letter is typically flat, ligger is the natural choice for its location in an archive.