De har lige lukket vinduet, fordi det begynder at regne.

They have just closed the window because it is starting to rain.

Breakdown of De har lige lukket vinduet, fordi det begynder at regne.

• vinduet: the window
• at: to
• have: to have
• det: it
• fordi: because
• begynde: to begin
• regne: to rain
• de: they
• lukke: to close
• lige: just

Questions & Answers about De har lige lukket vinduet, fordi det begynder at regne.

Why is it har lukket and not just lukkede?

Danish has two common past forms here:

• De har lukket vinduet = They have closed the window (present perfect)
• De lukkede vinduet = They closed the window (simple past)

In this sentence:

De har lige lukket vinduet, fordi …
They have just closed the window, because …

har lukket is used to stress a very recent action whose result is important now (the window is now closed).

With lige (“just (now)”), both are possible:

• De har lige lukket vinduet – very recent, result still relevant.
• De lukkede lige vinduet – also idiomatic; more like narrating what happened just then.

So har lukket isn’t “more correct”, it just slightly emphasizes the current result more than lukkede.

Why is lige placed between har and lukket?

In a normal main clause, Danish word order (very simplified) is:

Subject + finite verb + (sentence adverbs like ikke, altid, lige) + other verb forms + objects

So:

• De (subject)
• har (finite verb)
• lige (adverb)
• lukket (other verb form)
• vinduet (object)

De har lige lukket vinduet.

Putting lige elsewhere in a neutral statement is wrong or at least very marked:

• ✗ De lige har lukket vinduet – ungrammatical in standard neutral word order.
• ✓ Lige har de lukket vinduet – possible only with special emphasis (very unusual here).

So the “slot” between har and lukket is the normal place for lige in this kind of sentence.

Why is it vinduet and not det vindue for “the window”?

Danish usually marks definiteness with an ending on the noun, not with a separate word:

• vindue = a window
• et vindue = a window (with article)
• vinduet = the window

You only use det with an adjective in front:

• et vindue = a window
• det vindue – unusual; only in very special emphasis
• det store vindue = the big window (literally “the big window”)
• det store vindue (indefinite noun, definite article) vs.
  det store vindue
  • t? Wait: correct form is det store vindue (no -t), because the definite is marked by det, not by -et.

So here, with no adjective, you just say:

vinduet = the window

Why is it fordi det begynder and not fordi begynder det?

fordi introduces a subordinate clause (“because …”).
In subordinate clauses, the normal word order is:

Subject + Verb + …

So you get:

• det (subject)
• begynder (verb)

fordi det begynder at regne

Begynder det …? is question word order, e.g.:

• Begynder det at regne? – Is it starting to rain?

After fordi, you must use statement order, not question order, so:

• ✓ fordi det begynder at regne
• ✗ fordi begynder det at regne

Why do you say det when talking about rain? What does det refer to?

Here det is a dummy subject, just like “it” in English weather expressions:

• Det regner. – It’s raining.
• Det sneede i går. – It snowed yesterday.

It doesn’t refer to any specific thing; it just fills the subject position in the sentence. You use det (not den or hun etc.) for:

• weather: det regner, det sner, det blæser
• time: det er sent – it’s late
• distance: det er langt – it’s far

So in det begynder at regne, det is simply “weather-it”.

What’s the difference between det begynder at regne and det regner?

• Det regner. = It is raining.

  • Focus on the ongoing state: rain is happening now.

• Det begynder at regne. = It is starting to rain.

  • Focus on the start of the rain: maybe just the first drops.

In your sentence:

… fordi det begynder at regne.

they notice that the rain is just starting, and that’s why they close the window.

Why do you need at before regne in begynder at regne?

at is the Danish infinitive marker, like “to” in English:

• at regne – to rain
• at spise – to eat
• at læse – to read

After begynde followed by a verb, you normally use at:

• det begynder at regne – it’s starting to rain
• han begyndte at løbe – he started to run

Some verbs take an infinitive without at (especially the modal verbs):

• han kan løbe – he can run
• jeg vil spise – I want to eat

But begynde is not one of those; you must say:

• ✓ det begynder at regne
• ✗ det begynder regne

Could you also say det er begyndt at regne instead of det begynder at regne?

Yes, but there is a nuance:

• det begynder at regne – it is starting to rain right now (focus on the ongoing start)
• det er begyndt at regne – it has started to rain (the starting is already completed; now it’s raining)

Both are grammatically fine here:

• De har lige lukket vinduet, fordi det begynder at regne.
  – They close it while the rain is just starting.

• De har lige lukket vinduet, fordi det er begyndt at regne.
  – They close it because the rain has already started.

The original sentence highlights the “just beginning” feeling a bit more.

Could you use for or da instead of fordi to mean “because/since”?

Sometimes, yes, but they’re not identical:

1. fordi – the most neutral “because”

   • De har lukket vinduet, fordi det begynder at regne.
     – They closed the window because it’s starting to rain.
   • Clear, direct cause.

2. for – also “for/because”, but more like an explanatory add-on, often a bit more formal/literary:

   • De har lukket vinduet, for det begynder at regne.
     – They have closed the window, for it is beginning to rain.
   • Sounds a bit bookish in modern Danish, similar to English “for it is raining”.

3. da – often “since/as”, usually for a cause that is already known or obvious:

   • De har lukket vinduet, da det begynder at regne.
     – Odd in the present; better in the past:
     
     • De lukkede vinduet, da det begyndte at regne.
       – They closed the window when/since it started raining.

In your sentence, fordi is the most natural choice for everyday Danish.

Is there a difference between lukke and slukke?

Yes, and it’s an important one:

• lukke = to close/shut (doors, windows, books, shops)

  • lukke vinduet – close the window
  • lukke døren – close the door
  • butikken lukker kl. 17 – the shop closes at 5 pm

• slukke = to turn off / extinguish (lights, fire, devices)

  • slukke lyset – turn off the light
  • slukke fjernsynet – turn off the TV
  • slukke cigaretten – put out the cigarette

So:

• ✓ lukke vinduet
• ✗ slukke vinduet

Why is there a comma before fordi? Is it always required?

The part starting with fordi is a subordinate clause:

fordi det begynder at regne

In the most widely taught comma system in Danish, you put a comma before all subordinate clauses, so:

De har lige lukket vinduet, fordi det begynder at regne.

In modern Danish, there are two accepted comma systems, and in some of them the comma before certain subordinate clauses can be omitted. So you will sometimes also see:

De har lige lukket vinduet fordi det begynder at regne.

For practical purposes as a learner, it’s safe (and often recommended) to keep the comma before fordi-clauses.

Is it normal to mix har lukket (present perfect) with begynder (present) like this?

Yes, this is completely normal and natural.

The two parts talk about different aspects of time:

• De har lige lukket vinduet – the closing is just completed.
• det begynder at regne – the rain is starting now (ongoing situation).

So the structure is:

Completed action (perfect) because of ongoing situation (present)

You could also put both in simple past:

• De lukkede vinduet, fordi det begyndte at regne.
  – They closed the window because it started to rain.

But with lige and a very “now-ish” context, har lukket … fordi det begynder … feels very natural.