Questions & Answers about Han lærte dansk fra bunden.
Why is fra bunden translated as "from scratch" instead of "from the bottom"?
While bunden literally translates to "the bottom", the phrase fra bunden is the standard Danish idiom for doing something "from scratch" or "from the very beginning".
Why isn't dansk capitalized here?
Unlike English, Danish does not capitalize the names of languages or nationalities. You only capitalize them if they are the first word in a sentence.
The verb at lære can mean both "to learn" and "to teach". How do we know it means "learned" here?
Context determines the meaning. While Han lærte dansk could technically mean "He taught Danish", adding fra bunden makes it clear he was the one acquiring the skill. To unambiguously say "He taught Danish", a Dane would normally say Han underviste i dansk.
Why use the simple past lærte instead of the present perfect har lært?
Using the simple past lærte treats the learning process as a completed historical event. If the speaker had used har lært (has learned), it would focus more on his current state of knowing the language today.
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