Breakdown of Hun lytter til lydbogen samtidig med at hun kører.
hun
she
køre
to drive / to ride (a bike) / to run (of a train or bus service)
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
lytte
to listen
lydbogen
the audiobook
samtidig med at
at the same time as
Questions & Answers about Hun lytter til lydbogen samtidig med at hun kører.
Why use samtidig med at here instead of just mens (while)?
While mens also means while, samtidig med at is a complex subordinating conjunction that strongly emphasizes the two actions are happening at the exact same time. It translates literally to simultaneous with that.
Can I use samtidig on its own without med at?
Yes, but only as an adverb meaning simultaneously. For example, you could say Hun kører og lytter samtidig. However, to introduce a full subordinate clause with a new subject and verb (like hun kører), Danish requires the preposition med and the subordinating conjunction at to attach the new clause.
If I added a central adverb like altid (always) to the second clause, where would it go?
Because samtidig med at introduces a subordinate clause, the second half of the sentence follows subordinate word order. This means central adverbs must go between the subject and the verb. It would become: samtidig med at hun altid kører.
Why do we need the preposition til after lytter?
Just like in English, the Danish verb at lytte (to listen) requires a preposition to connect it to an object. You listen to something, so it becomes lytter til lydbogen. If you used hører (hears) instead, it takes a direct object without a preposition: Hun hører lydbogen.
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