Jeg koger ris til min søster, fordi hun ikke kan lide pasta.

I boil rice for my sister because she doesn’t like pasta.

Breakdown of Jeg koger ris til min søster, fordi hun ikke kan lide pasta.

• jeg: I
• min: my
• hun: she
• fordi: because
• til: for
• ikke: not
• kunne lide: to like
• søsteren: the sister
• koge: to boil
• pastaen: the pasta
• risene: the rice

Questions & Answers about Jeg koger ris til min søster, fordi hun ikke kan lide pasta.

Why is it Jeg koger ris and not Jeg koge ris?

Because Danish verbs conjugate for tense, not for person. The infinitive is at koge (to boil/cook). The present tense form is koger:

• at koge = infinitive
• jeg koger = I cook / I am cooking
• jeg kogte = I cooked
  So jeg koge is not a correct finite verb form.

Does koger mean I cook or I am cooking?

It can mean both. Danish present tense often covers:

• habitual: I cook (often)
• current action: I am cooking (right now) Context decides. If you want to emphasize “right now,” you can add something like lige nu (right now): Jeg koger ris lige nu.

Why is ris used without an article—why not et ris or nogle ris?

Ris (rice) is usually treated as a mass noun in Danish, like water in English, so it commonly appears without an article when you mean “some rice” in general.
If you want to specify quantity, you’d add something:

• noget ris = some rice
• en portion ris = a portion of rice
• to poser ris = two bags of rice

What does til min søster mean exactly, and why is til used?

til here expresses “for” in the sense of “intended for / made for.” So Jeg koger ris til min søster = I’m cooking rice for my sister (for her to eat).
Danish often uses til where English uses for when it’s about intended recipient.

Could I also say for min søster?

Sometimes, but it can sound different. for is common with “doing something on someone’s behalf” or “in place of someone,” and it’s also used in set phrases. For food-as-recipient, til is typically the natural choice:

• Jeg laver mad til min søster = I’m making food for my sister (for her to have)
• Jeg gør det for min søster = I do it for my sister (for her sake)

Why is it min søster and not mit søster?

Because søster is a common-gender noun (en-word): en søster.
Possessives agree with the gender/number of the noun:

• min
  • common gender singular (en): min søster
• mit
  • neuter singular (et): mit hus
• mine
  • plural: mine søstre

Why isn’t there an article like en before søster?

Because the possessive min already makes it definite in meaning (“my sister”), so you normally don’t add en/et.
You can add an article in special cases with an adjective, but the structure changes:

• min søster = my sister
• en af mine søstre = one of my sisters
• min lille søster = my little sister (no article)

What’s the word order after fordi? Why is it hun ikke kan lide?

After fordi, you typically get subordinate clause word order: the negation ikke comes before the finite verb (here kan).

• Main clause: Hun kan ikke lide pasta.
• Subordinate clause: ... fordi hun ikke kan lide pasta. So ikke shifts left in subordinate clauses.

Is fordi the only option for “because”? What about for?

Both can translate “because,” but they behave differently:

• fordi introduces a subordinate clause (with subordinate word order): ... fordi hun ikke kan ...
• for introduces a main-clause-like explanation (often more “afterthought” style) and keeps main clause word order: ... for hun kan ikke lide pasta. In writing, fordi is often the safer default.

Why is ikke placed where it is? Can it move?

ikke usually comes after the finite verb in main clauses, but before it in subordinate clauses:

• Main clause: Hun kan ikke lide pasta.
• Subordinate clause: ... fordi hun ikke kan lide pasta. It can move for emphasis in some contexts, but the placement above is the standard pattern you should learn first.

How does kan lide work? Is lide a noun or a verb?

lide is a verb meaning “like” (in the sense of enjoy). It’s commonly used with kan:

• at kunne lide = to like
  Literally it’s “can like,” but you should treat kan lide as the normal Danish way to say “(do) like”:
• Jeg kan lide kaffe. = I like coffee.
• Hun kan ikke lide pasta. = She doesn’t like pasta.

Why use kan at all? Why not just a simple present like English she doesn’t like?

Modern Danish typically expresses “like” with kunne lide rather than a standalone verb equivalent to English “to like.” There is at synes om (to be fond of / like), but it’s more about opinion and is used differently:

• Hun kan ikke lide pasta. = She doesn’t like pasta (taste/preference)
• Hun synes ikke om pasta. = She doesn’t like pasta (more “I’m not a fan of it”)

Is pasta treated as singular or plural in Danish?

In this sentence, pasta is treated as a mass noun (like “pasta” in English often is), so no plural marking is needed. If you mean types/portions, you can specify:

• en pasta isn’t normal
• pastaretter = pasta dishes
• en portion pasta = a portion of pasta

How would the sentence change if I replaced min søster with a plural like “my sisters”?

You’d use the plural possessive mine and plural noun søstre:

• Jeg koger ris til mine søstre, fordi de ikke kan lide pasta. Notice hun becomes de (they), and the verb form stays the same because Danish verbs don’t change by person/number in the present tense.

Any pronunciation pitfalls in this sentence?

Common tricky spots:

• Jeg often sounds like yai or jaj (depending on accent), not like English “jegg.”
• koger: the -er ending is often a reduced, unstressed sound.
• ris: a clean r (often Danish throaty r) and a long-ish vowel.
• søster: ø is not “ooh” or “oh”; it’s a front rounded vowel (similar to German ö).
• ikke: often reduced in speech (the vowels can sound less clear), but the kk is noticeable.
• lide: typically a long vowel; don’t pronounce it like English “lid.”