Learn Hardcore Danish: Vi skriver ofte beskeder til hinanden, når vi savner familien. - We often write messages to each other when we miss the family.

Vi skriver ofte beskeder til hinanden = We often write messages to each other.
It is a reciprocal pronoun, used when two or more people do the same action to one another.
It can only be used with a plural subject (like vi, de). You can’t say jeg skriver til hinanden.
Compare:
- Vi skriver til hinanden. – We write to each other.
- Jeg skriver til mig selv. – I write to myself.

Why is it beskeder and not beskederne?

Beskeder is indefinite plural (messages), while beskederne is definite plural (the messages).

Vi skriver ofte beskeder = We often write messages (in general, not specific ones).
Vi skriver ofte beskederne would mean something like We often write the messages (specific, known messages), which doesn’t fit the general, habitual meaning here.

Is besked countable in Danish, like message in English?

Yes, besked is normally used as a countable noun in this kind of context.

Basic forms:

en besked – a message
beskeden – the message
beskeder – messages
beskederne – the messages

So Vi skriver ofte beskeder corresponds directly to We often write messages.

Why is familien definite (with -en) instead of just familie?

Familien is the family, but in Danish you often use the definite form without a possessive when it’s clearly your own close family.

Vi savner familien ≈ We miss the family = We miss our family (context makes it clear it’s our family).
You can say vores familie (our family), but savne familien is very natural and common, especially for close relations (family, parents, children, etc.).

Compare:

Jeg savner familien. – I miss (my) family.
Jeg savner min familie. – I miss my family (slightly more explicit/emotional, but both are fine).

Why is ofte placed after skriver and not at the end of the sentence?

Danish has a fairly strict word order in main clauses:

Typical pattern: Subject – finite verb – (central adverb) – objects/other info

In this sentence:

Vi (subject)
skriver (finite verb)
ofte (central adverb)
beskeder til hinanden (objects + prepositional phrase)

So Vi skriver ofte beskeder til hinanden is the normal word order.
Putting ofte at the very end (Vi skriver beskeder til hinanden ofte) is possible but sounds marked or awkward in most contexts. The neutral place for ofte is after the finite verb.

Could you say Vi ofte skriver beskeder til hinanden?

No, that word order is not normal in standard Danish.

In a main clause:

The finite verb must come before the central adverb like ofte.
So Vi skriver ofte beskeder til hinanden is correct.
If you want to emphasize ofte, you would typically move ofte to the very beginning and then invert subject and verb:
- Ofte skriver vi beskeder til hinanden. – Often, we write messages to each other.

But Vi ofte skriver … is ungrammatical in normal Danish.

Why is there a comma before når?

Når vi savner familien is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause), and når is a subordinating conjunction.

Traditionally, Danish always puts a comma before subordinate clauses:

Vi skriver ofte beskeder til hinanden, når vi savner familien.

In newer comma rules, that comma can sometimes be omitted, but in practice:

Many people still write the comma there.
It is always correct to keep the comma before når when it introduces a subordinate clause.

So the comma marks the boundary between the main clause and the subordinate clause.

What is the difference between når and da, and why is når used here?

Both når and da can mean when, but they are used differently:

når = when(ever)
- Used for repeated actions and for present/future time.
da = when
- Used for a single event in the past.

In this sentence:

når vi savner familien = when(ever) we miss the family – a repeated or general situation, not one specific time.
Therefore når is the correct choice here.

Example contrast:

Når jeg savner familien, ringer jeg til dem. – When(ever) I miss the family, I call them.
Da jeg savnede familien, ringede jeg til dem. – When I missed the family (on that occasion/in that period), I called them.

Why is the present tense (skriver, savner) used if this describes a repeated action?

In Danish, the present tense is used for:

Actions happening right now
Habits and repeated actions
General truths

So:

Vi skriver ofte beskeder til hinanden = We often write messages to each other (habit).
Når vi savner familien = When we miss the family (every time that situation happens).

Danish doesn’t need a special progressive form (are writing, are missing) for this kind of habitual meaning; the simple present covers it.

Can you reverse the order of the clauses, and what happens to the word order then?

Yes, you can put the når-clause first:

Når vi savner familien, skriver vi ofte beskeder til hinanden.

Notice the word order in the main clause after the comma:

skriver vi ofte beskeder …, not vi skriver ofte beskeder …

This is because of the V2 rule in Danish main clauses:

The finite verb must be in second position in a main clause.
When a subordinate clause comes first, it occupies the first position, so the verb (skriver) has to come next, before the subject (vi).

Why is it til hinanden and not for hinanden?

The preposition til often corresponds to English to, especially with communication verbs:

skrive til nogen – write to someone
ringe til nogen – call someone
sende en besked til nogen – send a message to someone

So skriver … til hinanden = write … to each other.

For hinanden would mean something like for each other (on behalf of each other), which has a different meaning:

Vi arbejder for hinanden. – We work for one another.
Vi skriver til hinanden. – We write to one another.

Does savner always mean “to miss (emotionally)”, or can it also mean “to be missing / to lack”?

At savne mainly expresses emotional missing or longing:

Jeg savner dig. – I miss you.
Vi savner familien. – We miss the family.

For “to lack / to be missing” in a non‑emotional sense, Danish normally uses at mangle:

Der mangler to stole. – Two chairs are missing.
Jeg mangler penge. – I lack money / I don’t have enough money.

So in Når vi savner familien, it clearly means when we miss (emotionally) the family, not when we lack the family.