Breakdown of De rejsende står og venter på hovedbanegården.
og
and
på
on / at / in (a language) / of (after nouns like end or start)
stå
to stand
vente
to wait
den rejsende
the traveler
hovedbanegården
the central station
Questions & Answers about De rejsende står og venter på hovedbanegården.
Why does rejsende not have a plural ending here even though it means the travelers?
Rejsende is the present participle of at rejse (to travel). In Danish, present participles ending in -ende can be nominalized (used as nouns) to describe someone performing the action. A key feature of these nominalized participles is that they are invariant, meaning their form never changes. Den rejsende means the traveler and de rejsende means the travelers. You rely entirely on the plural definite article de to know there is more than one person.
Why does the sentence use står og venter rather than just venter?
Danish does not have a direct equivalent to the English -ing continuous verb form. Instead, it frequently uses a position verb like at stå (to stand), at sidde (to sit), or at ligge (to lie) followed by og and the main verb to show that an action is currently ongoing. While venter can mean both wait and are waiting, adding står og is the natural Danish way to emphasize that they are actively in the middle of waiting right now.
Why is the preposition på used for being at the central station instead of i or ved?
Danish traditionally uses på for transit hubs, islands, and certain public institutions. You will commonly hear på stationen (at the station), på apoteket (at the pharmacy), or på posthuset (at the post office). If you used i, it would heavily emphasize being physically enclosed inside the building's walls rather than simply being at the location for its intended function of catching a train.
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