Breakdown of Hvornår skal hun føde?
hun
she
skulle
to have to / must / to be going to
hvornår
when?
føde
to give birth (to)
Questions & Answers about Hvornår skal hun føde?
Why does this translate to 'is she due' instead of using a specific word for 'due'?
Danish does not have a direct adjective equivalent for a pregnancy being 'due'. Instead, it uses the active verb føde (to give birth). The literal translation of the sentence is 'When shall she give birth?'.
Does skal imply obligation here, meaning she 'must' give birth?
No, in this context skal does not mean 'must'. While it often expresses obligation, skal is also commonly used to indicate a scheduled or highly expected future event, acting as a future tense marker.
Is there a way to ask this using a noun, like asking for her 'due date'?
Yes! A very common alternative is Hvornår har hun termin? (literally: 'When does she have due date?'). Both this phrase and the sentence above are perfectly natural and used interchangeably in Danish.
Since føde means 'to give birth', how would I talk about the baby being born?
You use the passive form of the same verb. While the mother performs the active action (føde), the baby experiences the passive action: fødes or bliver født (is born).
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