Breakdown of Der er en kvinde der fortøjer færgen ved kajen.
kvinden
the woman
en
a / an (common)
der er
there is, there are
ved
by, next to
der
who, which (relative, subject)
fortøje
to moor
færgen
the ferry
kajen
the dock
Questions & Answers about Der er en kvinde der fortøjer færgen ved kajen.
Why use Der er en kvinde der... instead of simply starting with En kvinde fortøjer...?
This is the presentational relative construction. In Danish, it often sounds too abrupt or formal to start a sentence with a new, indefinite subject (like en kvinde) performing an action. Instead, Danes highly prefer to introduce the subject with Der er (There is) and then describe the action in a relative clause starting with der (who/that).
The word der appears twice in this sentence. Can I replace either of them with som?
You can only replace the second one. The first Der is a formal subject meaning "There" (as in "There is"). The second der is a relative pronoun meaning "who" or "that". You can replace the second one to get: Der er en kvinde som fortøjer færgen...
If I wanted to add the adverb altid (always) to the relative clause, where would it go?
It goes before the verb: ...en kvinde der altid fortøjer færgen. Remember that a relative clause is a type of subordinate clause. In subordinate clauses, central adverbs like altid or ikke must be placed before the verb, unlike in main clauses where they come after.
Why do we use the preposition ved for "at the dock" instead of på?
The preposition ved means "by," "next to," or "at the edge of." Since the ferry is in the water next to the dock, ved kajen is the precise choice. If you used på kajen, it would literally mean the ferry is sitting physically on top of the dock!
Learn Der er en kvinde der fortøjer færgen ved kajen and more in Danish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free