Breakdown of Givet at solisten er syg, må vi ændre koreografien.
være
to be
vi
we
syg
sick
måtte
to be allowed to / must
Questions & Answers about Givet at solisten er syg, må vi ændre koreografien.
Why is the word order må vi instead of vi må in the second half of the sentence?
Because the sentence starts with a subordinate clause (Givet at solisten er syg), that entire clause occupies the first position in the overall sentence. The V2 (verb-second) rule then kicks in, meaning the main verb (må) must take the second position, directly followed by the subject (vi).
Is givet at used for hypotheticals in the same way as hvis (if)?
No, givet at is used when the premise is considered an established fact, not just a possibility. We use it here because the soloist is already known to be sick, making it a concrete premise rather than a hypothetical condition.
Can the givet at clause be moved to the end of the sentence?
Yes, you can easily swap the clauses: Vi må ændre koreografien, givet at solisten er syg. Notice that when the main clause comes first, it keeps the standard subject-verb order (Vi må) because it is no longer being pushed out of the first position.
What happens if I need to make the givet at clause negative?
If you wanted to say 'Given that the soloist is NOT sick', you would add ikke. In a Danish subordinate clause, the adverb goes before the verb, so it would become: Givet at solisten ikke er syg...