Breakdown of Læreren kommer for sent til timen.
læreren
the teacher
komme
to come
til
to (preposition) / for (purpose) / at (an event or occasion) / at (good at something)
for
too
sent
late
timen
the lesson, the class (a school period)
Questions & Answers about Læreren kommer for sent til timen.
Why does the sentence use kommer instead of the Danish word for "is"?
In Danish, being late for an event, class, or appointment is expressed with the verb at komme (to come). So instead of saying "the teacher is late," you literally say that the teacher "comes too late" (kommer for sent).
Why is the word for used before sent?
In this phrase, for means "too" (as in excessively). The standard Danish idiom for arriving late is literally "coming too late" (kommer for sent), whereas English simply says someone "is late."
Why is there a "t" at the end of sent?
The word sent describes how the teacher arrives, which makes it an adverb (a word that modifies a verb). In Danish, you usually turn an adjective (sen, meaning late) into an adverb by adding a -t to the end.
Doesn't timen usually mean "the hour"? Why does it translate to "the class" here?
You are right that en time means "an hour" on a clock. However, in an educational context, en time is also the standard word for a "lesson" or "class". Here, timen is the definite form, meaning "the class."
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