Tøjet bliver snavset, når jeg arbejder i haven.

The clothes become dirty when I work in the garden.

Breakdown of Tøjet bliver snavset, når jeg arbejder i haven.

• jeg: I
• i: in
• haven: the garden
• blive: to become
• når: when
• tøjet: the clothes
• arbejde: to work
• snavset: dirty

Questions & Answers about Tøjet bliver snavset, når jeg arbejder i haven.

Why is bliver used in this sentence instead of something like er?

In Danish, bliver indicates a change of state—here, the clothes are becoming dirty. Using er would simply state they are dirty, but bliver focuses on the process of getting dirty.

Why do we say i haven rather than på haven or another preposition?

When talking about being in a garden, Danish typically uses i to mean inside or within an area. På is used in contexts like on a surface or certain specific locations (e.g., på arbejde, at work). But for a garden, i is the usual choice.

Is there a difference between når and hvis in this sentence fragment?

Yes. Når is used for a recurring situation or general condition (when something happens repeatedly or whenever it happens). Hvis would introduce a conditional (if something happens). In this sentence, it’s a repeated situation, so når is correct.

Does når also work for a single past event in Danish?

No, for a single event in the past, you use da in Danish. Når is for present or future or repeated/general situations.

How does word order in Tøjet bliver snavset, når jeg arbejder i haven compare to English?

The structure is fairly similar, but remember that in Danish, the subject often comes right after the verb when the sentence starts with a different element. However, here the sentence starts with Tøjet (the subject), followed by bliver (the verb), which is quite direct and mirrors typical English word order.