Breakdown of Familien sørger over deres mor.
familien
the family
moren
the mother
deres
their / theirs
sørge
to grieve, to mourn
Questions & Answers about Familien sørger over deres mor.
Why does the sentence use deres instead of sin when familien is a singular noun?
Familien is a collective noun. Even though it is grammatically singular, Danish often uses the plural pronoun deres instead of the singular reflexive sin when referring to a group of people. This is because the speaker is thinking of the individual family members rather than a single entity.
Why use the preposition over instead of for here?
In Danish, at sørge over means to mourn or grieve for someone. If you used the preposition for and said at sørge for, it would completely change the meaning to "to take care of" or "to make sure of" something.
Given the solemn context, would it be more appropriate to use the formal word moder instead of mor?
No, in modern Danish mor is the standard word for mother in almost all situations. Using moder would sound archaic or overly biblical, even in a serious context like mourning.
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