Jeg er ved at oversætte teksten i stuen med ordbogen.

I am in the middle of translating the text in the living room with the dictionary.

Breakdown of Jeg er ved at oversætte teksten i stuen med ordbogen.

• jeg: I
• i: in
• med: with
• stuen: the living room
• oversætte: to translate
• teksten: the text
• ordbogen: the dictionary
• være ved at: to be in the process of

Questions & Answers about Jeg er ved at oversætte teksten i stuen med ordbogen.

Why does Danish use ved at + infinitive here (Jeg er ved at oversætte) instead of just jeg oversætter?

Jeg er ved at oversætte is a common Danish construction meaning you are in the middle of doing something / currently engaged in it. It’s close to an English progressive like I’m translating (right now / these days), with an added feel of “in progress.”

• Jeg oversætter teksten. = “I translate / I’m translating the text.” (neutral; can be present habitual or present ongoing depending on context)
• Jeg er ved at oversætte teksten. = explicitly emphasizes the ongoing process (“I’m busy translating / I’m in the process of translating”)

It’s also used a lot for “about to” in some contexts, but with an activity like oversætte, it usually reads as “currently doing.”

What is the grammar of ved in er ved at—is ved a preposition, and why does at appear?

Yes: ved is originally a preposition meaning by/at/near. In the fixed construction at være ved at + infinitive, it functions idiomatically as a kind of aspect marker (“in the process of…”).

• at is the infinitive marker (like English to), required before the infinitive oversætte. So structurally you can think of it as:
• Jeg er (I am) + ved at (in the act of) + oversætte (translate)

You generally treat er ved at as a single unit you learn as a phrase.

Why is it oversætte and not at oversætte at the end?

Because the at is already supplied by the construction ved at.

• Correct: Jeg er ved at oversætte teksten.
• Incorrect/doubled: Jeg er ved at at oversætte teksten.

If you remove ved at, then you’d need at in other contexts (e.g., after certain verbs), but not here because it’s already built in.

What’s the word order, and where would ikke (“not”) go?

In a main clause, Danish has V2 word order (the finite verb is in position 2). Here it’s: 1) Jeg (subject)
2) er (finite verb)
then the rest.

For negation:

• Jeg er ikke ved at oversætte teksten i stuen med ordbogen.
  ikke typically comes after the finite verb (er) and before the rest of the verb phrase.

Does teksten mean “a text” or “the text”? Why the -en ending?

teksten means the text. Danish commonly expresses definiteness by adding a suffix to the noun:

• en tekst = a text
• teksten = the text

So -en is the definite ending for a common-gender noun (en-words).

Why is it i stuen (“in the living room”) and not something like på stuen?

For rooms, Danish typically uses i (“in”):

• i stuen = in the living room
• i køkkenet = in the kitchen

på is used for surfaces, islands, and some institutions/places with idiomatic usage, but a normal room location is i.

What does stuen literally mean, and why is it definite?

stue is “living room / sitting room.”
stuen is “the living room,” using the definite suffix -en again:

• en stue = a living room
• stuen = the living room

In Danish, it’s very common to use the definite form for rooms in your home when the context makes it specific (your living room, the living room in the house being discussed).

What does med ordbogen mean here—does it mean “together with the dictionary,” or “using the dictionary”?

In this sentence, med ordbogen is best understood as using the dictionary / with the help of the dictionary. Danish med covers both “with” and “by means of,” and context decides. So Jeg ... med ordbogen naturally reads as “I’m translating ... using the dictionary.”

Why is it ordbogen and not en ordbog?

ordbogen means the dictionary (a specific one—often “the dictionary I’m using”).

• en ordbog = a dictionary (any dictionary)
• ordbogen = the dictionary (a particular one)

Both could be possible depending on meaning:

• ... med en ordbog = with a dictionary (not a specific one)
• ... med ordbogen = with the dictionary (the known/available one)

Can i stuen and med ordbogen switch places? Is the current order special?

They can often switch, but the nuance can change slightly because Danish tends to place “lighter/more expected” information earlier and “heavier/newer” information later.

• Jeg er ved at oversætte teksten i stuen med ordbogen. (place first, then instrument)
• Jeg er ved at oversætte teksten med ordbogen i stuen. (instrument first; ending on place can give a slight “where?” afterthought)

Both are grammatical; the first feels very natural as a neutral description.

How would this look in a question—where does er go?

In yes/no questions, Danish puts the finite verb first:

• Er du ved at oversætte teksten i stuen med ordbogen? = Are you translating the text in the living room using the dictionary?

In wh-questions, the wh-word is first, then the finite verb:

• Hvor er du ved at oversætte teksten? = Where are you translating the text?
• Hvad er du ved at oversætte? = What are you translating?

Is ved at always required to express “-ing,” or can Danish express ongoing actions other ways?

No, it’s not required. Danish often just uses the present tense:

• Jeg oversætter teksten. can mean “I’m translating the text” in context.

Other options exist too, depending on style and meaning:

• Jeg sidder og oversætter teksten. = literally “I’m sitting and translating” (often implies you’re currently doing it)
• Jeg er i gang med at oversætte teksten. = “I’m in the process of translating the text” (very explicit)

er ved at is just one very common way to highlight that the action is ongoing.