Breakdown of Det lykkes for indsatslederen at starte redningsaktionen.
det
it (neuter)
at
to
lykkes
to succeed
for
for (preposition)
starte
to start
indsatslederen
the incident commander
redningsaktionen
the rescue operation
Questions & Answers about Det lykkes for indsatslederen at starte redningsaktionen.
Why do we use 'det' and 'for' instead of just saying 'Indsatslederen lykkes at...'?
In Danish, lykkes (to succeed or manage to do something) cannot take a human subject directly. You must use the impersonal dummy pronoun det as the grammatical subject, and introduce the person who succeeds using the preposition for. Literally, the structure translates to 'It succeeds for the incident commander to...'.
Why does the verb lykkes end in an 's' here, and what tense is it?
Lykkes is an s-verb (also called a deponent verb), which means it looks like a passive verb but has an active meaning. Even though it ends in an -s, it is in the present tense here. If it were in the past tense, it would be lykkedes.
How is the compound noun indsatslederen constructed?
It is made by combining indsats (effort, intervention, or deployment) and lederen (the leader or manager). In the context of emergency services, an indsatsleder is the standard term for the incident commander or chief on the scene.
Why is there an extra 's' in the middle of redningsaktionen?
That s is a binding letter (known as a 'fuge-s' in Danish) used to glue the two nouns redning (rescue) and aktionen (the operation) together. This binding letter is very common in Danish compound words, especially when the first noun ends in the suffix -ing.
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