Breakdown of Hans forklaring giver mening.
hans
his
forklaringen
the explanation
give mening
to make sense
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Questions & Answers about Hans forklaring giver mening.
Why does the Danish sentence use giver instead of a word for "makes", like laver or gør?
In Danish, the fixed expression for "makes sense" is giver mening, which translates literally to "gives meaning." Using laver or gør here is a common mistake for English speakers, but it sounds completely unnatural in Danish.
Why is hans used here instead of the reflexive pronoun sin?
Hans forklaring is the subject of this sentence. In Danish, the reflexive possessive pronouns (sin, sit, sine) refer back to the subject of the clause, which means they can never be the subject themselves. Therefore, you must use hans.
If I wanted to say "He makes sense," could I say Han giver mening?
No, that sounds very unnatural in Danish because a person doesn't usually "give meaning." Instead, you apply the phrase to the person's words or actions. You would say something like Det, han siger, giver mening (What he says makes sense).
How does the suffix -ing work in the word forklaring?
The suffix -ing is frequently used to turn a verb into a noun that describes an action or its result. Here, the verb at forklare (to explain) drops the final -e and takes -ing to become the noun forklaring (explanation).