Breakdown of Pigen klemte sig gennem åbningen, og hun hørte et ekko bag sig.
hun
she
og
and
pigen
the girl
et
a / an (neuter)
høre
to hear / to listen to (music, radio, a podcast)
sig
oneself / himself / herself / themselves
bag
behind
gennem
through
klemme
to squeeze
åbningen
the opening
ekkoet
the echo
Questions & Answers about Pigen klemte sig gennem åbningen, og hun hørte et ekko bag sig.
Why is it bag sig instead of bag hende when the English translation says "behind her"?
In Danish, when a spatial preposition refers back to the subject of the same clause, you must use the reflexive pronoun sig. Because the subject of this clause is hun, using hende would imply the echo was behind a completely different female person, not the girl herself.
Why do we have sig twice in this sentence? Are they doing the exact same job?
No, they serve different grammatical roles. The first sig is the direct object of the verb klemte, forming the reflexive verb klemme sig (to squeeze oneself). The second sig is the object of the spatial preposition bag, acting as a prepositional reflexive to show location relative to the subject of that specific clause.
Could I use igennem instead of gennem before åbningen?
Yes, gennem and igennem are largely interchangeable as prepositions here. However, gennem is the standard choice for simple physical movement through a space, while igennem places a slightly stronger emphasis on the complete passage from one side to the exact opposite side.
Why isn't the verb inverted in the second clause? Shouldn't it be og hørte hun?
The coordinating conjunction og connects two independent clauses but sits completely outside the word order of the second clause. It doesn't take up the first position. So, the new clause starts fresh with the subject hun in position one, followed normally by the verb hørte in position two.
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