Breakdown of Min datter elsker at spille tennis.
min
my
datteren
the daughter
elske
to love
at
to
spille
to play
tennissen
the tennis
Questions & Answers about Min datter elsker at spille tennis.
Why is there no article before tennis?
In Danish, when a verb and a noun combine to describe a standard, recognized activity, the noun is often used without an article. Here, spille tennis (playing tennis) is treated as a single conceptual activity, so tennis remains a bare singular. This is a great example of semantic noun incorporation.
Why do we use spille here instead of lege?
Spille is used for structured games, sports with rules, and playing musical instruments. You use lege for imaginative, unstructured children's play. Since tennis is a structured sport, spille is the only correct choice.
Why is it at spille and not a word ending in '-ende' like in English?
The verb elsker is the main verb of the sentence. The activity she loves must be in the infinitive form, marked by at. While English can use the '-ing' form (loves playing), Danish uses the infinitive (elsker at spille) for this construction. Danish does have an '-ende' ending, but it is used as an adjective or adverb, never to name an activity.
In spoken Danish, at spille sounds identical to og spille. How do I know which one to write?
This is a classic spelling trap even for native Danes! Both at and og are usually pronounced as a short, unstressed 'å' sound. You know it must be at here because it introduces an infinitive verb that acts as the object of elsker. You would only use og (and) if you were connecting two independent actions, such as hun synger og spiller tennis (she sings and plays tennis).
Learn Min datter elsker at spille tennis 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