Breakdown of Givet at springet er farligt, lader vi ham hvile sig.
være
to be
vi
we
ham
him
farlig
dangerous
lade
to let
hvile sig
to rest
givet at
given that
springet
the leap
Questions & Answers about Givet at springet er farligt, lader vi ham hvile sig.
How does givet at affect the word order of the main clause here?
Givet at acts as a subordinating conjunction, so Givet at springet er farligt forms a dependent clause. Since this entire clause occupies the first position in the overall sentence, the main verb must come second to satisfy the V2 rule. That is why the main clause uses the inverted word order lader vi instead of vi lader.
Why is there no at before the verb hvile?
The verb lade (to let) is a causative verb that pairs with a bare infinitive. Just like in English where we say 'let him rest' instead of 'let him to rest', in Danish you use the infinitive hvile without the infinitive marker at.
Why do we need the word sig at the very end of the sentence?
In Danish, the verb for 'to rest' is typically reflexive: at hvile sig. Because the person resting is ham (him), we use the third-person reflexive pronoun sig. English simply uses the intransitive 'rest', but omitting sig in Danish would sound incorrect here.
Does the word givet change its ending depending on the noun it refers to?
No. While givet originates from the past participle of at give (to give), the phrase givet at operates as a fixed compound conjunction meaning 'given that'. It never inflects for gender or plural, regardless of what follows it.
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