Word
Der er en stime af små fisk under rovfisken.
Meaning
There is a school of small fish under the predatory fish.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Der er en stime af små fisk under rovfisken.
en
a / an (common)
fisken
the fish
af
of
der er
there is, there are
Questions & Answers about Der er en stime af små fisk under rovfisken.
How does the definiteness effect apply to en stime af små fisk in this sentence?
In an existential clause starting with der er (there is/are), the logical subject (the thing that exists) must be indefinite. That is why we use the indefinite en stime (a school). If you wanted to talk about a specific school, you would have to drop der and say Stimen af små fisk er under rovfisken.
If the rule says the subject must be indefinite, why is rovfisken in the definite form?
The definiteness effect restricts only the logical subject (the school of fish). It does not affect prepositional phrases that describe the location, like under rovfisken. Locations in these types of sentences are very often definite because they provide a known reference point for the new, indefinite subject.
Why is the adjective små used here instead of lille?
The noun fisk has the exact same spelling in both the singular and the plural indefinite (en fisk, flere fisk). Because it refers to multiple small fish here, the adjective must take the plural form små instead of the singular lille.
How is the word rovfisken constructed?