Jeg ser katten, hvis den er i haven.

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Breakdown of Jeg ser katten, hvis den er i haven.

• katten: the cat
• i: in
• haven: the garden
• se: to see
• være: to be
• den: it
• hvis: if

Questions & Answers about Jeg ser katten, hvis den er i haven.

Why is hvis used in this sentence instead of når?

In Danish, hvis introduces a condition (something that may or may not happen), whereas når is used for something that happens regularly or definitely will happen. Here, hvis emphasizes that you see the cat only on the condition that it is present in the garden, so we need a conditional word.

Why does the sentence use den instead of det or ham?

In Danish, the pronoun must match the grammatical gender of the noun it refers to. Katten is common gender (called fælleskøn in Danish), so the pronoun is den instead of det. And because katten is an animal, if you are not specifying its gender, you typically use den rather than ham or hun.

What role does the comma play before hvis?

In modern Danish, commas are often used according to clause boundaries. hvis introduces a subordinate clause (a conditional clause), which is commonly set off by a comma. The comma can help readers quickly see that the clause is dependent on the main sentence.

Why do we say katten (the cat) instead of en kat (a cat)?

The definite article -en (turning kat into katten) is used because we’re referring to a specific cat that is recognized or known in the context. Using en kat would mean “a cat” in general, not necessarily the one you’re specifically watching for in the garden.

Could the word order be changed to Hvis den er i haven, ser jeg katten?

Yes, that’s still a correct Danish sentence. Placing hvis den er i haven first simply shifts the emphasis but doesn’t change the meaning. Danish word order often shifts to highlight different parts of the sentence, but the main idea remains.