Breakdown of Den oprindelige plan var at rejse i maj.
være
to be
i
in
den
the (common, before adjective)
at
to
Questions & Answers about Den oprindelige plan var at rejse i maj.
Why is it Den oprindelige plan instead of just oprindelige planen?
Danish uses "double definiteness" when a noun is described by an adjective. Instead of adding the usual suffix to make the noun definite (planen), you must use the independent definite article Den before the adjective and keep the noun in its basic form (plan).
Why does the adjective oprindelige end in an -e?
Because it is part of a definite phrase (following Den). In Danish, adjectives take an -e ending when they are used with a definite article (den, det, or de) or a possessive pronoun.
Why isn't the month maj capitalized?
Unlike in English, months, days of the week, and languages are never capitalized in Danish unless they appear at the very beginning of a sentence.
Is i always the correct preposition to use before a month?
Yes, when you are talking about an action happening in a specific month, you use i followed by the month's name, which matches how we use "in" in English.