Breakdown of Vi fik at vide at komplottet var helt skjult.
være
to be
vi
we
vide
to know
at
that
få
to get, to receive / to have (children)
helt
completely
komplottet
the plot (conspiracy)
skjult
hidden
Questions & Answers about Vi fik at vide at komplottet var helt skjult.
Why does fik at vide translate to "were told" rather than "got to know"?
The construction få plus at and a sensory verb like vide is how Danish expresses receiving information or experiences. While it literally translates to "got to know," få at vide is the standard, everyday way to say "to be told." It acts as a receptive passive instead of using a passive form of the verb "to tell".
There are two instances of the word at right next to each other (at vide at). Are they doing the same grammatical job?
No, they serve different functions. The first at is the infinitive marker for vide (to know). The second at is a conjunction meaning "that," which introduces the subordinate clause about the plot. Seeing at twice in a row is perfectly normal in Danish when an infinitive verb is immediately followed by a "that" clause.
Why is it helt instead of hel or hele?
In this sentence, it functions as an adverb modifying the adjective skjult to mean "completely" or "totally". To turn the adjective hel (whole) into an adverb, you add a -t to the end, resulting in helt.
Because komplottet is an et-word, shouldn't the adjective skjult get a neuter -t ending?
You normally add a -t to adjectives describing et-words, but skjult is an exception. It is the past participle of the verb at skjule (to hide). Because it already ends in a -t, Danish spelling rules say we don't add another one. Therefore, it stays as skjult whether it describes an en-word or an et-word.
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