Breakdown of Ups, jeg kom til at slette vedhæftningen.
jeg
I
komme til at
to inevitably happen / to accidentally do
slette
to delete
ups
oops
vedhæftningen
the attachment
Questions & Answers about Ups, jeg kom til at slette vedhæftningen.
Why is 'accidentally' used in the translation when there is no direct word for it in the Danish sentence?
The phrase komme til at plus an infinitive (here, at slette) is a special construction. When used in the past tense (kom til at), it specifically means that the action was a mistake or unintended. Therefore, jeg kom til at slette translates naturally to 'I accidentally deleted'.
I learned earlier that komme til at means 'going to' or 'will'. Why doesn't it mean that here?
You are remembering correctly for the present tense! For example, jeg kommer til at slette den means 'I am going to delete it'. However, when we shift this construction into the past tense (kom til at), the meaning usually changes completely from a future plan to an accidental past action.
How does the word vedhæftningen break down?
It originates from the verb at vedhæfte (to attach). Adding the suffix -ning turns it into the noun en vedhæftning (an attachment). Finally, the -en at the end is the definite suffix, making it vedhæftningen (the attachment).
Could I just say jeg slettede vedhæftningen ved et uheld instead?
Yes, you could use ved et uheld (by accident), but using the kom til at construction is much more common and natural in everyday spoken Danish for minor slips and mistakes like deleting a file.
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