Breakdown of Han bruger naturligvis stadig slet ikke sin mimik.
han
he
bruge
to use / to spend (money, time) / to need (together with the modal of obligation)
sin
his/her/its own (common)
naturligvis
naturally
stadig
still (continuing)
slet ikke
not at all
mimikken
the facial expressions
Questions & Answers about Han bruger naturligvis stadig slet ikke sin mimik.
Why are the adverbs ordered as naturligvis stadig slet ikke?
In Danish, when you have multiple central adverbs in the mid-field, they generally follow a strict hierarchy. First comes the speaker's attitude or commentary (naturligvis), followed by time or aspect adverbs (stadig), and finally the negation (slet ikke or ikke).
How does slet work together with ikke here?
The word slet is an intensifier used right before ikke to mean "not at all." Even though it consists of two words, slet ikke acts as a single unit that takes the final spot in the central adverb sequence.
Quick refresher: why do we use sin instead of hans here?
We use the reflexive possessive pronoun sin because the object belongs to the third-person subject of the exact same clause (Han). If you used hans, it would grammatically mean he wasn't using some other man's facial expressions!
The English translation uses the plural "facial expressions", so why isn't it sine mimikker?
In Danish, mimik is an uncountable mass noun referring to the general concept of facial expression. Therefore, it stays singular and takes the singular pronoun sin, even though we naturally translate it to the plural in English.
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