Breakdown of Han sidder og undersøger en del af terrænet.
han
he
og
and
en
a / an (common)
af
of
undersøge
to investigate, to examine (also a patient)
sidde
to sit
delen
the part
terrænet
the terrain
en del af
a part of, some of
Questions & Answers about Han sidder og undersøger en del af terrænet.
Why do we use af here for 'of' instead of til?
In Danish, af is used when talking about a component, fraction, or physical piece of a whole. Since en del (a part) is a fraction of the terrain, af is the correct preposition. You would use til for actual ownership or belonging, like ejeren til terrænet (the owner of the terrain).
Why does the sentence say sidder og undersøger (sits and investigates) to mean 'is investigating'?
Danish doesn't have an exact equivalent to the English '-ing' form for ongoing actions. To show that an action is currently happening, Danish often pairs a posture verb (like sidder, står, or ligger) with og and the main verb. Here, it tells us he is physically sitting down while carrying out the investigation.
What is the literal breakdown of the verb undersøger?
It is made up of under (under) and søger (seeks or searches). While at søge means to look for something, adding the prefix creates at undersøge, which is how you say to investigate, examine, or study something closely in Danish.
Does en del always mean a literal 'part' of something?
In this sentence, paired with af, it means a literal part or section. However, as an intermediate learner, you will also frequently hear en del used on its own to mean 'quite a lot' or 'a good deal' (for example: Det tager en del tid - That takes quite a bit of time).
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