Breakdown of Han ordner husarbejdet samtidig med at han taler i telefon.
han
he
ordne
to fix / to sort out
tale i telefon
to talk on the phone
samtidig med at
at the same time as
Questions & Answers about Han ordner husarbejdet samtidig med at han taler i telefon.
What is the difference between using samtidig med at and just using mens (while) here?
Both indicate that two things are happening at once. However, samtidig med at puts a stronger emphasis on the exact simultaneity of the actions, translating literally to 'simultaneously with that'. Because it ends with the word at, you know it functions as a subordinating conjunction and will trigger subordinate clause word order.
Why does the sentence use ordner instead of laver or gør for 'doing' housework?
The verb at ordne means 'to fix', 'to sort out', or 'to take care of'. While you can certainly say laver husarbejde (does housework), using ordner is a very natural and common way to express that someone is 'taking care of the chores'. Note that Danes generally avoid gør here, reserving it for specific expressions like gør rent (cleans).
Why is the preposition i used in taler i telefon instead of på?
The phrase at tale i telefon is a fixed Danish idiom for 'talking on the phone'. Danish uses i (in/into) because you historically speak into the receiver. Notice also that telefon is used without a definite article here, unlike the English 'on the phone'.
If I wanted to add a central adverb like ofte (often) to the second part of the sentence, where would it go?