Jeg nyder at reflektere over tanken om venskab.

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Breakdown of Jeg nyder at reflektere over tanken om venskab.

• at: to
• nyde: to enjoy
• reflektere: to reflect
• venskabet: the friendship
• tanken: the thought

Questions & Answers about Jeg nyder at reflektere over tanken om venskab.

Why is at used before reflektere here?

In Danish, when one verb directly follows another, you typically insert at (meaning "to") to mark the infinitive form of the second verb. So reflektere appears in the infinitive with at after nyder (enjoy).

Why do we have reflektere in the infinitive form?

After at, you almost always use the infinitive form of the verb in Danish. It shows that reflektere (meaning "to reflect") is the action being enjoyed, rather than a conjugated verb form like reflekterer.

What does tanken om venskab mean literally, and why use om instead of something like over?

Tanken om venskab literally translates to "the thought of friendship." In Danish, om is a flexible preposition that can indicate "regarding" or "about." While over can also mean "about," in this context, om is more commonly used to express the idea that you are thinking about something or reflecting on it.

Is tanken in the definite form? If so, why?

Yes, tanken is the definite form of tanke (“thought”). The definite article is built into the end (-en). Here, the speaker is talking about a specific concept: "the thought" of friendship, rather than any random thought.

How would the sentence change if we removed at?

If you removed at, it would no longer be standard Danish grammar in this context. You need at before the infinitive of the verb (reflektere) to show that this action is what you enjoy doing.