Breakdown of Min veninde anbefaler det lille værksted, fordi de reparerer cykler hurtigt.
Questions & Answers about Min veninde anbefaler det lille værksted, fordi de reparerer cykler hurtigt.
Veninde is a common-gender (en-) noun, so the possessive is min (not mit, which is for neuter et- nouns).
Also, the noun is veninde (a female friend); venind isn’t a Danish word.
Ven = friend (often gender-neutral in modern use, but historically “male friend”).
Veninde = female friend.
Learners often meet both; you choose based on what you want to specify.
In Danish, verbs do not change by person in the present tense. The present tense is typically verb + -r for all subjects:
- jeg anbefaler, du anbefaler, hun anbefaler, vi anbefaler, etc.
Here det is the definite article used with an adjective:
- et værksted = a workshop (indefinite)
- værkstedet = the workshop (definite, without adjective)
- det lille værksted = the little workshop (definite + adjective pattern)
So det is not the pronoun it here; it’s part of the definite noun phrase.
With et-words (neuter nouns) you often see -t on adjectives (e.g., et stort hus). But lille is irregular: it usually stays lille in the singular, including with et nouns:
- et lille værksted / det lille værksted
(You’ll still see småt from små, stort from stor, etc., but lille is its own pattern.)
Because there’s an adjective (lille). In Danish, when you add an adjective to a definite noun, you normally use this “double definiteness” style:
- værkstedet (no adjective)
- det lille værksted (with adjective)
In Danish you generally don’t say lille værkstedet.
Because fordi introduces a subordinate clause (a reason clause). In Danish writing, it’s standard to place a comma before many subordinate clauses, especially when the clause is clearly an added explanation. So:
… værksted, fordi …
(Comma rules can vary with style, but this comma is very common and acceptable.)
After fordi, you have a subordinate clause, which normally uses subject–verb order:
- fordi de reparerer … (because they repair …)
In main clauses Danish has V2 word order (verb usually in 2nd position), but subordinate clauses like this keep the verb after the subject.
Danish often uses de to refer to the people working at a place/business, even if the place itself is singular. So the workshop → they (the staff) is natural.
You could also see alternatives depending on meaning:
- fordi værkstedet reparerer … (treating the workshop as an entity)
- fordi den reparerer … (rare here; sounds like the physical shop is doing it)
Using de is the most idiomatic if you mean the workers.
Plural here expresses a general service: they repair bikes (in general), not one specific bike.
- reparerer cykler = repair bikes (as a service)
- reparerer en cykel = repair a bike (one bike, unspecified)
- reparerer cyklen = repair the bike (a specific one already known)
Hurtigt is an adverb describing how they repair, and placing it toward the end is very natural: reparerer cykler hurtigt.
You can move adverbs for emphasis, but the neutral/default placement is like this. For example, hurtigt earlier can sound more emphatic or stylistic.
You mainly learn it with the article: et værksted. There isn’t a fully reliable rule from meaning alone.
Once you know it’s neuter, you’ll recognize related forms:
- et værksted (indefinite)
- værkstedet (definite)
- det lille værksted (definite with adjective)
Yes: anbefale is typically transitive in Danish and takes a direct object: anbefaler det lille værksted.
If you add who you recommend it to, you can use a preposition phrase, e.g. til mig (depending on the structure you choose), but the base pattern doesn’t require one.