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Jeg bliver ved med at øve mig på udtalen, selvom jeg er meget træt i aften.

Jeg bliver ved med at øve mig på udtalen, selvom jeg er meget træt i aften.
I keep practicing pronunciation, even though I am very tired tonight.
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Questions & Answers about Jeg bliver ved med at øve mig på udtalen, selvom jeg er meget træt i aften.

What does bliver ved med at mean, and why is it phrased like that?

bliver ved med at + infinitive is a very common Danish expression meaning to keep (on) doing, to continue to do.

  • Jeg bliver ved med at øve mig = I keep practicing / I continue practicing.
    Literally, it’s something like “I remain with to …”, but you should learn it as a fixed chunk: blive ved med at.
Why is it bliver and not er or fortsætter?

Danish often uses blive ved (med at) instead of a verb like fortsætte in everyday speech. Both can mean “continue,” but:

  • blive ved med at sounds very natural and conversational.
  • fortsætte med at is also possible, often a bit more “formal” or deliberate.
    Also, bliver is present tense of blive (“become/remain”), and in this idiom you just use blive even though the meaning is “continue.”
What is the structure of øve mig på udtalen? Why mig, and why på?

øve is commonly used reflexively when you practice a skill:

  • at øve sig = to practice (literally “to practice oneself”).
    So mig matches the subject jeg.

For what you practice, Danish often uses på:

  • øve sig på udtalen = practice (working) on pronunciation.
    You can think of på here like “on” in English (work on). In many contexts you’ll also see:
  • øve sig i + noun (practice in/at a field), e.g. øve sig i dansk (practice Danish)
  • øve + noun (non-reflexive) when it’s more like rehearsing something specific, e.g. øve en sang (rehearse a song)
Why is it at øve after med—what’s the role of at?

After blive ved med, Danish typically uses at + infinitive:

  • bliver ved med at øve
    Here at is the infinitive marker (like “to” in English), and it’s part of the standard pattern med at + verb.
Could you drop at and just say Jeg bliver ved med øve mig?

No—standard Danish requires at here:

  • Correct: Jeg bliver ved med at øve mig …
    Without at, it sounds ungrammatical to most speakers.
What’s the function of selvom, and does it change word order?

selvom means although / even though and introduces a subordinate clause. In Danish subordinate clauses, the word order changes: the adverb (like meget) comes before the verb er if it were an adverb affecting the verb, and negation (ikke) would also come before the verb.

In this particular clause:

  • selvom jeg er meget træt
    You don’t see a dramatic word-order change because there’s no ikke or sentence adverb like aldrig placed around the verb. But if you add one:
  • selvom jeg ikke er træt (not selvom jeg er ikke træt)
Why is it meget træt and not træt meget?

meget (“very”) is an adverb of degree and normally comes before the adjective it modifies:

  • meget træt = very tired
Does i aften mean “tonight” or “in the evening”? Where can it go in the sentence?

i aften usually means tonight / this evening depending on context. It’s a time expression and can move around fairly freely, but typical positions are:

  • End (very common): … træt i aften.
  • Earlier for emphasis: … selvom jeg i aften er meget træt. (still fine, a bit more marked)
Why is udtalen definite (the pronunciation)?

Danish often uses the definite form when referring to a general, understood concept in context—here, “the pronunciation” of the language you’re working on.

  • udtale = pronunciation (indefinite)
  • udtalen = the pronunciation (definite)

In many learning contexts, udtalen sounds more natural than udtale because it refers to the “whole area” of pronunciation you’re improving.

How do you pronounce udtalen and what’s happening with the d?

In udtalen, the d is typically not a clear English-like d. In many accents it becomes a “soft d” sound (often described as a kind of voiced “th”-like approximant), and sometimes it’s very reduced.
A rough guide:

  • udtalen ≈ something like oo-tæː-len with a very soft/reduced d sound depending on accent.
    If you’re learning pronunciation, it’s worth listening to native audio for udtale / udtalen because the d behavior is one of the tricky parts of Danish.
Could you replace Jeg bliver ved med at ... with Jeg fortsætter med at ... without changing meaning?

Mostly yes:

  • Jeg bliver ved med at øve mig ... = I keep practicing ...
  • Jeg fortsætter med at øve mig ... = I continue practicing ...

The difference is nuance and register:

  • bliver ved med is extremely common and can imply persistence (“I keep at it”).
  • fortsætter can sound slightly more neutral or formal, but it’s still perfectly normal Danish.
What tense is bliver, er, and how would you say it in the past?

Both bliver and er are present tense.

Past versions:

  • Jeg blev ved med at øve mig på udtalen, selvom jeg var meget træt i aftes.
    = I kept practicing pronunciation, even though I was very tired last night.

Notes:

  • bliver → blev (past)
  • er → var (past)
  • i aften → i aftes (“last night / yesterday evening”)
Is there anything special about comma use here?

Yes: Danish normally puts a comma before a subordinate clause introduced by conjunctions like selvom:

  • ..., selvom jeg er ...
    So the comma before selvom is standard. (Comma practices vary a bit, but this comma is widely expected.)