Breakdown of Hun er blevet opereret for kræft.
være
to be
hun
she
for
for (preposition)
blive
to be (passive auxiliary)
operere
to operate (surgically)
kræften
the cancer
Questions & Answers about Hun er blevet opereret for kræft.
Why does the sentence use er blevet instead of har været?
To form the passive voice in the present perfect tense (meaning something has been done to someone), Danish uses er blevet followed by the main verb's past participle. You cannot use har været here, because that just describes a state of being or location, rather than a passive action being performed on the subject.
Why is the helper verb er used before blevet instead of har?
The verb blive (to become or be) indicates a change of state. In Danish, verbs that describe a change of state or physical movement always use være (here conjugated as er) as their helper verb in perfect tenses instead of have. Because of this rule, it is always er blevet and never har blevet.
English says operated on for, but this sentence only uses for. Where is the translation of on?
In Danish, the verb operere does not take an equivalent to the English preposition on. You simply operate a person for a condition, which is why the Danish sentence goes directly from the verb to for kræft.
Is there a difference between kræft and kraft?
Yes, and mixing them up is a very common learner mistake because they sound quite similar! Kræft with an æ means cancer, as seen in this sentence, while kraft with an a means power, force, or strength.
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