Breakdown of At hun har frækheden til at bedrage sin egen familie!
hun
she
have
to have
familien
the family
sin
his/her/its own (common)
at
to
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
egen
own
frækheden
the audacity
bedrage
to deceive, to cheat (on someone)
Questions & Answers about At hun har frækheden til at bedrage sin egen familie!
Why does this sentence start with the conjunction at (that) without a main clause before it?
This is a standalone exclamatory at-clause. By dropping a main clause like Jeg fatter ikke... (I don't understand/believe...), the speaker puts all the emphasis purely on their shock and indignation. It acts as a complete exclamation of disbelief.
Why do we need the preposition til in til at bedrage?
In Danish, nouns that express an abstract capacity, right, or characteristic like frækhed (audacity), ret (right), or evne (ability) are usually followed by til at plus the infinitive verb. It acts a bit like saying 'the audacity for deceiving'.
As a refresher, why is it sin egen familie and not hendes egen familie?
Because hun (she) is the grammatical subject of the clause, and she is deceiving her own family. Sin is the third-person reflexive possessive pronoun. If you used hendes here, it would grammatically imply that she is deceiving some other woman's family.
Can frækhed be used in a positive way, or is it always negative like 'audacity'?
In this specific phrase (har frækheden til at...), it means 'has the nerve' or 'has the audacity' in a highly negative way. However, the root adjective fræk is very versatile and can mean 'cheeky', 'naughty', or even 'sexy' depending on how you use it in other contexts.
Learn At hun har frækheden til at bedrage sin egen familie 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