Breakdown of Jeg skriver en anden besked til min søster, hvis hun ikke forstår planen.
Questions & Answers about Jeg skriver en anden besked til min søster, hvis hun ikke forstår planen.
Skriver is the present tense form of the verb at skrive (to write). Danish present tense is typically formed with -r:
- at skrive → jeg skriver (I write / I am writing)
Danish present tense often covers both English simple present and present continuous, depending on context.
Anden can mean another or different/second, depending on context. In en anden besked, it usually means another message (one more message), but it can also imply a different message from a previous one.
Grammar note: anden agrees with en besked because besked is common gender (en-ord), so it’s en anden.
With communication verbs (write, say, send), Danish commonly uses til to mark the recipient:
- skrive en besked til nogen = write a message to someone
For is more like for someone’s benefit (doing something on their behalf), and it sounds wrong in this specific “recipient” sense:
- jeg laver mad for min søster = I cook for my sister (for her benefit)
- jeg skriver til min søster = I write to my sister (recipient)
In Danish main clauses, ikke usually comes after the finite verb. But in subordinate clauses (like ones introduced by hvis), the word order is different:
- Subordinate clause: subject + adverb (ikke) + verb
So: hun ikke forstår (she not understands) is correct Danish subordinate clause order.
Hun forstår ikke would be the main clause order.
Hvis is if (a condition that may or may not happen).
Når is typically when in the sense of something expected or recurring.
- Hvis hun ikke forstår = If she doesn’t understand (maybe she will, maybe she won’t)
- Når hun ikke forstår = When/whenever she doesn’t understand (as a pattern or expected situation)
Planen is the plan (definite), implying a specific plan both speaker and listener know about. Danish makes definiteness explicit with the suffix:
- en plan = a plan
- planen = the plan
In many contexts like this, Danish prefers the definite form when referring back to something established.
After a possessive (like min, din, hans), Danish normally uses the indefinite noun form, even though the meaning is definite:
- min søster = my sister
Not: min søsteren (generally incorrect)
Definiteness is already “built in” by the possessive, so the extra definite ending is not used.
Yes, message is also used in Danish, especially about texts/online messages, and often spelled message or sometimes adapted in informal usage. But besked is very common and neutral.
Examples:
- en besked = a message (general)
- en message = often feels more “chat/text/app” flavored
Even though skriver is present tense, the sentence can refer to a future action, especially with a condition: “I’ll write another message … if she doesn’t understand.” Danish often uses the present tense where English uses will, especially when the situation is planned or expected. Context decides whether it’s “I write/I’m writing” or “I will write.”
Yes. If the subordinate clause comes first, Danish uses inversion in the main clause (finite verb before the subject):
- Hvis hun ikke forstår planen, skriver jeg en anden besked til min søster.
Notice: skriver jeg (verb + subject) instead of jeg skriver.
In subordinate clauses introduced by words like hvis, at, fordi, når, som, the general rule is:
- subject + sentence adverb (ikke, ofte, altid, måske) + finite verb
So yes, for ikke and similar adverbs, it’s very consistent. There are some stylistic and special cases, but for learners this rule works extremely well.