Breakdown of Oprindeligt ville han være læge.
være
to be
han
he
lægen
the doctor
ville
want to / will
oprindelig
original (initial, from the start)
Questions & Answers about Oprindeligt ville han være læge.
Why is it ville han instead of han ville?
Because Danish is a V2 (verb-second) language. The main verb must be the second element in a main clause. Since the sentence starts with the adverb oprindeligt, the verb ville has to come right after it, pushing the subject han to the third position.
Doesn't ville translate to the English word 'would'?
It can look like a false friend! Here, ville is the past tense of vil (to want to). While it sometimes translates to 'would' in conditional sentences, its core meaning is about wanting or intending. So in this context, it simply means 'wanted to'.
Why is there no en before læge to mean 'a doctor'?
In Danish, you usually drop the indefinite article (en or et) when stating someone's profession, nationality, or religion after verbs like være (to be) or blive (to become). Therefore, 'to be a doctor' is just være læge.
Why does the word oprindeligt end in a -t?
The base adjective is oprindelig (original). When you turn a Danish adjective into an adverb (changing 'original' to 'originally') to describe the whole sentence, you generally add a -t to the end of it.
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