Han mistede sin taske i banken, men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.

He lost his bag in the bank, but fortunately a librarian found it.

Breakdown of Han mistede sin taske i banken, men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.

• i: in
• en: a
• men: but
• den: it
• han: he
• tasken: the bag
• finde: to find
• sin: his own
• heldigvis: fortunately
• miste: to lose
• banken: the bank
• bibliotekaren: the librarian

Questions & Answers about Han mistede sin taske i banken, men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.

Why is it sin taske and not hans taske?

Sin is the reflexive possessive pronoun. It is used when the owner is the subject of the same clause:

• Han mistede sin taske. = He lost his own bag.

Hans is non‑reflexive and usually refers to some other male, not the subject:

• Han mistede hans taske. = He lost his bag (another man’s bag, not his own).

So in this sentence, because the subject is han and the bag belongs to that same han, Danish grammar requires sin.

Why is the object pronoun den and not det at the end?

Danish third‑person singular pronouns agree with the gender of the noun:

• Common gender (n‑words): en taske, den (it)
• Neuter gender (t‑words): et hus, det (it)

Taske is common gender, so the object pronoun that stands for taske must be den:

• Han mistede sin taske … en bibliotekar fandt den.
  = He lost his bag … a librarian found it.

If the lost thing had been a neuter noun, you’d use det instead:

• Han mistede sit kort. En bibliotekar fandt det.
  (kort is neuter: et kort, so det.)

Why is it i banken and not i bank, i en bank, or på banken?

Several things are going on:

1. Definite form –en
   Danish typically uses the definite form for institutions and public places when you are there doing what that place is for:

   • i banken = “at the bank” (the bank as a place you go to do banking)
   • i skolen = at school
   • i kirken = at church

   I bank is ungrammatical; nouns normally can’t appear bare like that in this meaning.

2. Indefinite vs definite

   • i en bank = “in a bank” (some bank, not a specific familiar one)
     This is possible, but it sounds more like you’re just mentioning one of many banks, without context.
   • i banken = “in the (contextually known / normal) bank”
     This is what you usually say if you went to the bank in your town/city.

3. Preposition choice: i vs på

   • i is used for being inside or at a building: i banken, i supermarkedet.
   • på banken would literally mean “on top of the bank” in standard Danish, so it’s wrong in this sense.

What is the difference between mistede, tabte, and glemte for “lost”?

All three can translate to “lost” in English, but they are used differently:

• miste (past: mistede)
  General “to lose” in the sense of no longer having something:

  • Jeg mistede min taske. = I lost my bag. (It’s gone / I don’t have it.)

• tabe (past: tabte)
  Basic meaning: to drop something or to lose a game/competition:

  • Jeg tabte min taske. = I dropped my bag. (It fell.)
  • Vi tabte kampen. = We lost the match.

• glemme (past: glemte)
  Means to forget:

  • Jeg glemte min taske i banken. = I forgot my bag in the bank.

In this sentence, mistede is appropriate because the focus is that he no longer had his bag; it went missing, not just dropped for a moment or simply forgotten in the sense of memory.

How is the past tense formed in mistede and fandt?

They illustrate two different patterns:

1. Regular verb: miste → mistede
   Many regular Danish verbs make the past tense with -ede or -te:

   • at miste → jeg mistede (I lost)
   • at arbejde → jeg arbejdede (I worked)

2. Irregular verb: finde → fandt
   Some common verbs change the stem vowel and often add -t in the past:

   • at finde → jeg fandt (I found) → past participle: fundet
   • at drikke → jeg drak (I drank) → drukket

So mistede is a regular past tense form, while fandt is irregular and must be memorized.

Why is the word order men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den and not like English “but luckily a librarian found it”?

Danish has the V2 rule (verb‑second) in main clauses: the finite verb must be the second element, no matter what comes first.

In the second clause:

• First element: heldigvis (an adverb)
• Second element: fandt (finite verb)
• Then: en bibliotekar (subject) + den (object)

So the natural Danish order here is:

• … men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.

If you start instead with the subject, then the verb comes right after:

• … men en bibliotekar fandt heldigvis den.

Both are grammatical; they just differ in what is emphasized. Starting with heldigvis puts more emphasis on the luck.

Why is it en bibliotekar and not bibliotekaren?

En bibliotekar is indefinite: “a librarian” (we don’t know which one, and it doesn’t matter).

Bibliotekaren is definite: “the librarian” (a specific one both speaker and listener can identify).

In this sentence, the librarian is being mentioned for the first time, and it is not important which exact person it was. So Danish uses the indefinite form:

• … men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.
  = “… but luckily a librarian found it.”

If you had already introduced the librarian before, you might say:

• Jeg talte med en bibliotekar. Senere fandt bibliotekaren den.
  = I spoke to a librarian. Later the librarian found it.

Could you also say Han mistede tasken i banken? What is the difference from sin taske?

Yes, Han mistede tasken i banken is grammatical, but the nuance changes:

• Han mistede sin taske i banken.
  Focus: He lost his own bag. The possessor is clear (the subject himself).

• Han mistede tasken i banken.
  Focus: He lost the bag (a specific bag already known in the context).
  The sentence does not say whose bag it is; it could be his, or someone else’s.

So sin taske is explicit about possession and neutral/new in terms of which bag. Tasken is about “that particular, already identified bag” and neutral/unclear about whose it is.

Can heldigvis go in other places in the sentence, or must it be at the beginning of the clause?

It can move, as long as the V2 rule is respected and the placement sounds natural. Common options include:

1. At the start (as in your sentence):

   • … men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.
     (Adverb first → verb second.)

2. After the subject:

   • … men en bibliotekar heldigvis fandt den.
     This is technically possible but sounds a bit marked/poetic.

3. After verb + subject (very natural):

   • … men en bibliotekar fandt heldigvis den.

4. At the end:

   • … men en bibliotekar fandt den heldigvis.

In practice, the most neutral alternatives here are:

• … men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.
• … men en bibliotekar fandt heldigvis den.

Why is there a comma before men?

Danish uses commas between independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions such as og, men, for, så.

Here we have two main clauses:

1. Han mistede sin taske i banken,
2. men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.

Because men connects two independent clauses, a comma before men is standard written Danish:

• Han mistede sin taske i banken, men heldigvis fandt en bibliotekar den.

This is similar to English, where a comma before but is also common when linking two full clauses.