Word
I Danmark betaler staten for uddannelse.
Meaning
In Denmark the state pays for education.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of I Danmark betaler staten for uddannelse.
i
in
betale
to pay
uddannelsen
the education
for
for (preposition)
Questions & Answers about I Danmark betaler staten for uddannelse.
Why is the word order betaler staten instead of staten betaler?
Because the sentence starts with the location phrase I Danmark, the verb betaler must come immediately after it to satisfy the Danish V2 (verb-second) rule. This pushes the subject staten after the verb.
How does the word staten get its meaning of "the state"?
In Danish, the definite article "the" is usually added as a suffix to the end of the noun. Here, the base noun stat gets the -en ending to become staten.
Why is there no article before uddannelse?
Just like in English, Danish omits the article when referring to education as a broad, general concept. If you were talking about a specific degree or training program, you would use the indefinite article and say en uddannelse.
Could I use til instead of for when saying the state pays "for" education?
No, when you are talking about paying in exchange for a service or a thing, you must use betaler for. You would use betaler til if you were talking about paying money directly "to" a person, a fund, or an organization.