Word
Jeg lægger bogen til side, når min ven kommer.
Meaning
I put the book aside when my friend comes.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Jeg lægger bogen til side, når min ven kommer.
Why is it jeg lægger and not jeg lægge?
Because Danish (like English) conjugates the verb in the present tense.
- Infinitive: at lægge = to put/lay
- Present: (jeg) lægger = (I) put/lay
So jeg lægge would be ungrammatical in standard Danish.
What does lægger ... til side mean as a unit? Is til side a separate “particle” like English put aside?
Yes—lægge ... til side functions much like an English phrasal verb put ... aside.
- lægger = put/lay
- til side = aside (literally “to (the) side”)
You can think of it as: Jeg lægger [bogen] til side = I put [the book] aside.
Why is the object bogen (the book) and not en bog (a book)?
Bogen is the definite form (“the book”), formed by adding the definite ending -en to bog:
- en bog = a book
- bogen = the book
In Danish, definiteness is often shown by a suffix (the “attached” the) rather than a separate word.
Is til side always two words, and do I have to keep that order?