Breakdown of I middelalderen fandtes der et stort kloster her.
her
here
der
there
et
a / an (neuter)
i
in
stor
big
findes
to exist
middelalderen
the Middle Ages
klosteret
the monastery
Questions & Answers about I middelalderen fandtes der et stort kloster her.
Why does fandtes end in -es, and what is its base form?
Fandtes is the past tense of the s-verb at findes, which means 'to exist' or 'to be found'. It derives from the active verb at finde (to find). While many s-verbs add -edes or -tes in the past tense, at finde has an irregular past tense active form (fandt). To make it an s-verb in the past tense, you simply add -es to that irregular form, resulting in fandtes.
Could fandtes also mean 'was found' in a literal sense, like finding a lost item?
It can theoretically function as the past tense s-passive of at finde, but in modern Danish, the past tense s-passive is quite rare for specific, completed events. If you wanted to say 'the monastery was found' (like an archaeological discovery), you would almost always use the blive-passive instead: klosteret blev fundet. In this sentence, fandtes acts entirely as an independent s-verb meaning 'existed'.
Why is der used right after the verb here?
This is an existential sentence, much like using 'there existed' or 'there was' in English. Danish uses der as a formal or 'dummy' subject when introducing that something exists. Because the sentence begins with the time phrase I middelalderen, the main verb fandtes must take the second position due to the V2 (verb-second) rule. This pushes the subject der into the third position.
Why is middelalderen in the definite form?
Just like in English ('the Middle Ages'), Danish refers to this specific, unique historical period using the definite form. It is a compound word made up of middel (middle) and alderen (the age).
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