Word
Kapaciteten i højhastighedstoget er for lille til at stoppe trængslen.
Meaning
The capacity in the high-speed train is too small to stop the congestion.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Kapaciteten i højhastighedstoget er for lille til at stoppe trængslen.
være
to be
i
in
at
to
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
Questions & Answers about Kapaciteten i højhastighedstoget er for lille til at stoppe trængslen.
Since this lesson is about the anticipatory object det, why isn't there a det after til here?
In Danish, when a preposition links directly to an infinitive phrase (using at + verb), the anticipatory det is usually dropped, giving us til at stoppe. The placeholder det is more commonly used when the preposition introduces a full at-clause containing a subject and verb (e.g., til det, at vi stopper trængslen). Knowing that it is omitted before simple infinitives is key!
How does the structure for lille til at stoppe compare to English?
It translates perfectly to 'too small to stop', but notice that Danish requires the preposition til before the infinitive marker at. You must use the pattern for [adjective] til at [verb]; saying for lille at stoppe without til is grammatically incorrect in Danish.
Why is the definite form of trængsel spelled trængslen without the second e?
Danish nouns ending in unstressed -el, -en, and -er usually drop that final e when a definite ending is added. So trængsel (congestion or crowd) becomes trængslen, not trængselen, which makes it flow much better when spoken.
Why does the compound word højhastighedstoget have an s in the middle?