Questions & Answers about For det andet er det sundt at cykle.
Why do we use 'det andet' in the phrase 'For det andet'?
The phrase For det andet translates to 'Secondly'. It uses the neuter definite article det and the neuter form of the ordinal number andet because it refers to an abstract, unspecified point or argument, which Danish treats as neuter. For 'firstly', you would say For det første.
Why does the verb 'er' come before the subject 'det'?
This happens because of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The sentence starts with the adverbial phrase For det andet, which occupies the first position. To keep the verb in the second position, er and det swap places (inversion).
Why is there a '-t' on the end of the adjective 'sundt'?
The adjective sund gets a -t because it describes the neuter pronoun det. In this sentence structure, det acts as a dummy subject pointing ahead to the real subject, at cykle. Since det is neuter, the adjective must take its neuter form.
Could I structure this sentence without the dummy subject 'det'?
Grammatically, you could say For det andet er at cykle sundt, making the infinitive phrase the direct subject. However, Danish strongly prefers the structure you see here, using det as a placeholder and moving the heavier infinitive phrase at cykle to the end of the sentence.