Breakdown of Hvorfor giver han sig til at skælde hende ud?
han
he
hende
her
hvorfor
why?
give sig til at
to suddenly start to
Questions & Answers about Hvorfor giver han sig til at skælde hende ud?
How does give sig til at change the meaning here compared to just using begynder at?
While begynder at simply means to start doing something, give sig til at emphasizes a sudden, unexpected, or spontaneous start to the action. It is used to show that he started scolding her out of nowhere.
Why do we need the word sig after the subject?
This specific expression is inherently reflexive in Danish. You always use give plus the reflexive pronoun that matches the subject, followed by til at. Since the subject is han, the matching reflexive pronoun is sig.
Why is the object hende placed right in the middle of the verb skælde ud?
The phrase skælde ud is a separable particle verb. A major rule in Danish word order is that when the object of such a verb is a short pronoun like hende, it must be placed between the verb (skælde) and the particle (ud).
Could I drop the at and just say giver han sig til skælde hende ud?
No, the infinitive marker at is absolutely required here. The phrase give sig til must be followed by an infinitive phrase, and unlike modal verbs which take a bare infinitive, this expression requires the full infinitive with at.