Festens mad og vin er sat på bordet.

The party's food and wine are set on the table.

Breakdown of Festens mad og vin er sat på bordet.

• og: and
• være: to be
• på: on
• bordet: the table
• vinen: the wine
• maden: the food
• festens: party's
• sætte: to set

Questions & Answers about Festens mad og vin er sat på bordet.

What does the word festens mean in this sentence?

Festens is the possessive form of fest (meaning “party”) with the definite article attached. It translates to “the party’s”, indicating that what follows (the food and wine) belongs to or is associated with the party.

What do the words mad and vin translate to in English?

Mad means “food” and vin means “wine” in Danish. This can be particularly interesting for English speakers since mad in English usually means “insane,” but in Danish it simply means “food.”

How is the passive construction in er sat formed, and what does it convey?

The phrase er sat is formed by combining the auxiliary er (meaning “is”) with the past participle sat of the verb at sætte (“to set” or “to place”). This passive construction indicates that the food and wine have been placed on the table without stating who performed the action.

What does the phrase på bordet mean, and how is it structured?

På bordet translates to “on the table”. Here, på is the preposition for “on,” and bordet is the definite form of bord (“table”), with the ending -et marking its definiteness.

Why is bordet written with the ending -et?

In Danish, neuter nouns form their definite version by adding the suffix -et. So bord becomes bordet, which means “the table”. This suffix is a common method for indicating definiteness in Danish.

Does the possessive festens modify both mad and vin in this sentence?

Yes, festens applies to both mad and vin because they are connected by og (“and”). This shared possessive means that both the food and the wine are associated with the party.