Breakdown of Kvinden fik konvolutten at se i det omfang, hun ønskede.
hun
she
kvinden
the woman
se
to see / to look at
i
in
det
the (neuter, before adjective)
at
to
få
to get, to receive / to have (children)
ønske
to wish
konvolutten
the envelope
omfanget
the extent
Questions & Answers about Kvinden fik konvolutten at se i det omfang, hun ønskede.
Why is konvolutten placed between fik and at se?
This is the standard word order for this receptive perception frame. When using the auxiliary få with at and a sensory verb like se (to see), the direct object acts as a sandwich filling between the verbs. While English says 'got to see the envelope', Danish says fik konvolutten at se (got the envelope to see).
Could I change the word order and say Kvinden fik at se konvolutten instead?
No, that would sound unnatural in Danish. You must place the simple direct object before the infinitive when using this specific få + at + sensory verb construction. The verbs only stay directly together if there is no simple object, such as when followed by a subclause: hun fik at se, hvad der skete (she got to see what happened).
What does the phrase i det omfang mean and how is it used?
i det omfang is a highly useful phrase meaning 'to the extent' or 'in the scope'. The noun et omfang translates to extent, scale, or circumference. You can use this phrase to formally express 'as much as' or 'to the degree that'.
Why is there no Danish word for 'that' right after the comma?
The relative pronoun som (that) is implied here: i det omfang, (som) hun ønskede. Just like in English, you can often drop the relative pronoun in Danish when it functions as the object of the relative clause.
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