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Hun tager en kort pause på arbejdspladsen uden at kigge på sin telefon.

Hun tager en kort pause på arbejdspladsen uden at kigge på sin telefon.
She takes a short break at the workplace without looking at her phone.
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Questions & Answers about Hun tager en kort pause på arbejdspladsen uden at kigge på sin telefon.

Why does the sentence use tager for “takes” in Hun tager en kort pause? Could you also say gør or holder here?

In Danish, certain nouns naturally go with certain verbs, just like in English you take a break (not do a break).

  • Tage en pause = to take a break
  • Holde en pause is also possible and very common; it means the same thing.
  • Gøre en pause sounds wrong in Danish.

So:

  • Hun tager en kort pause – perfectly natural
  • Hun holder en kort pause – also natural
  • ✗ Hun gør en kort pause – incorrect
Why is it en kort pause and not something like et kort pause or en korte pause?

There are two things here: the gender of the noun and the form of the adjective.

  1. Gender of the noun

    • Pause is a common gender noun in Danish.
    • Common gender uses en as the indefinite article: en pause.
    • Neuter nouns use et (e.g. et hus, a house).

    So it must be en pause, not et pause.

  2. Form of the adjective

    • Indefinite singular, common gender: en kort pause
    • Indefinite singular, neuter: et kort brev
    • Definite or plural: den korte pause, de korte pauser

    The adjective kort is one of those that doesn’t change in the neuter (kort → kort), but it does change to korte in definite/plural forms.

In this sentence we have:

  • Indefinite + singular + common gender → en kort pause.
Why is it på arbejdspladsen and not i arbejdspladsen? What’s the difference between på and i here?

Both på and i can mean at/in in English, but they’re used differently in fixed expressions.

  • På arbejdspladsen literally: on/at the workplace
    – This is the normal way to say at the workplace.
  • I arbejdspladsen would sound wrong here; you’re not physically inside the workplace as a physical object.

Some common patterns:

  • på arbejde – at work
  • på kontoret – at the office
  • på skolen – at the school
  • i huset – in the house (inside the building)
  • i bilen – in the car

So på arbejdspladsen is the idiomatic choice for “at the workplace”.

Why does arbejdspladsen end with -en? What does that ending do?

Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of in front, like English the.

  • arbejdsplads = workplace
  • arbejdspladsen = the workplace

So:

  • Hun tager en kort pause på arbejdspladsen
    = She takes a short break at the workplace.

If it was indefinite, you’d have:

  • en arbejdsplads – a workplace
  • på en arbejdsplads – at a workplace

Here we’re talking about a specific, known workplace, so arbejdspladsen (definite) is used.

What does the structure uden at kigge mean, and why is at there?

Uden at + infinitive is a very common pattern in Danish. It corresponds to English “without -ing”.

  • uden at kigge = without looking
  • uden at spise = without eating
  • uden at sige noget = without saying anything

Here:

  • uden = without
  • at = the infinitive marker (similar to to in to look, to eat)
  • kigge = look (infinitive)

So uden at kigge på sin telefon literally: without to look at her phone, but idiomatically: without looking at her phone.

Why is it kigge på and not just kigge? What does på do here?

In Danish, the verb kigge often takes the preposition på when it means to look at something.

  • kigge på noget = to look at something
    • kigge på sin telefon = look at her phone

Without på, kigge can mean to take a look or have a peek more generally, often with no explicit object:

  • Kom, vi kigger – Come on, let’s have a look.
  • Skal jeg lige kigge? – Should I just take a look?

But when you say look at X, you normally need:

  • kigge på X
  • or se på X (also to look at).

So here på is required by the verb to indicate the object she’s looking at.

Why is it sin telefon and not hendes telefon? Both mean “her phone”, right?

Both can translate to her phone, but they’re used differently.

  • sin / sit / sine = reflexive possessive: refers back to the subject of the clause.
  • hendes = her (someone else’s), not automatically linked to the subject.

In this sentence:

  • Subject: Hun (she)
  • Object: sin telefon

Sin tells us that the phone belongs to Hun herself.

So:

  • Hun tager en kort pause … uden at kigge på sin telefon.
    = She doesn’t look at her own phone.

If you said:

  • Hun tager en kort pause … uden at kigge på hendes telefon.

it would normally be understood as: she doesn’t look at another woman’s phone (some other “her”), not her own.

Rule of thumb:
If the owner is the subject, use sin / sit / sine instead of hans / hendes.

Why is it sin telefon and not sin telefonen if English has “her phone” with “the” feeling?

In Danish, when a noun has a possessive (like min, din, sin, hans, hendes), it is normally indefinite.

So:

  • hendes telefon – her phone
  • sin telefon – her own phone (reflexive)
  • min telefon – my phone
  • vores telefon – our phone

All are indefinite: telefon, not telefonen.

You would not normally say:

  • ✗ sin telefonen
  • ✗ hendes telefonen

Those sound wrong in standard Danish. The possessive replaces the need for a separate definite ending or den/det in front.

Could you move uden at kigge på sin telefon earlier in the sentence, like Hun tager uden at kigge på sin telefon en kort pause?

Grammatically, Danish word order is fairly flexible, but there are natural and unnatural positions.

The most natural version is the original:

  • Hun tager en kort pause på arbejdspladsen uden at kigge på sin telefon.

If you move the uden at-phrase into the middle:

  • Hun tager uden at kigge på sin telefon en kort pause på arbejdspladsen.

this sounds awkward and heavy to native speakers. Long adverbial phrases like uden at kigge på sin telefon usually go towards the end of the clause, after the main objects and shorter adverbials.

So while you might be understood, the original order is the idiomatic one.

Why is tager in the simple present? In English we would often say “is taking a short break”.

Danish doesn’t have a separate progressive tense (no standard is taking form). The present tense covers both:

  • simple present (takes) and
  • present progressive (is taking).

So:

  • Hun tager en kort pause
    can mean:
    • She takes a short break (habitually), or
    • She is taking a short break (right now), depending on context.

If you really need to emphasize that it’s happening right now, you can add time expressions:

  • Hun tager lige nu en kort pause. – She is taking a short break right now.
  • Hun er i gang med at tage en kort pause. – She is in the process of taking a short break.

But the basic form Hun tager en kort pause is normally enough.

What’s the difference between på arbejdspladsen and på arbejde? Could you say Hun tager en kort pause på arbejde?

Both exist, but they don’t mean exactly the same:

  • på arbejde = at work (in the general sense of being at your job)
    • Hun er på arbejde. – She is at work.
  • på arbejdspladsen = at the workplace (more concrete, the physical/workplace location)

You could say:

  • Hun tager en kort pause på arbejde.

That would mean She takes a short break while at work (at her job in general).

Hun tager en kort pause på arbejdspladsen sounds a bit more specific, like at the actual workplace location (office, shop, etc.). Both are acceptable; the original just chooses the more concrete phrase.