Han vil gøre sit bedste til eksamen i dansk.

He will do his best for the Danish exam.

Breakdown of Han vil gøre sit bedste til eksamen i dansk.

• i: in
• ville: to want
• til: for
• han: he
• dansk: Danish
• eksamenen: the exam
• gøre sit bedste: to do one's best

Questions & Answers about Han vil gøre sit bedste til eksamen i dansk.

Why is it Han and not Ham?

Han is the subject form (nominative) of he. Danish (like English) distinguishes subject vs. object forms in pronouns:

• han = he (subject)
• ham = him (object)
  So Han vil ... = He wants/will .... You’d use ham after a verb or preposition, e.g. Jeg ser ham (I see him), til ham (to him).

What does vil mean here—“will” or “wants to”?

vil can mean both, depending on context:

• want to / intend to (most common in everyday Danish): Han vil gøre sit bedste = He wants to / intends to do his best.
• will (future): Han vil komme i morgen = He will come tomorrow.
  In this sentence, it’s mainly about intention/volition.

Why is the verb in second position: Han vil gøre ...?

Danish follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb (here vil) comes in position 2.
Structure: [Subject] [Finite verb] [Rest] → Han | vil | gøre sit bedste ...
If you start with something else, the verb still stays second:

• I morgen vil han gøre sit bedste. (Tomorrow, he will/intends to do his best.)

Why is it gøre and not gør?

Because vil is a modal/auxiliary verb, and after modals Danish uses the infinitive form:

• vil + infinitive → vil gøre (wants to do / will do)
  gør is the present tense finite form and can’t follow vil in standard Danish.

What exactly is sit bedste grammatically?

sit is a reflexive possessive meaning his/her/its/one’s own (agreeing with the noun it modifies).
bedste is the superlative of god (good): bedre (better), bedst/bedste (best).
Together sit bedste literally means his own best → idiomatically his best.

Why is it sit and not hans?

Danish distinguishes:

• reflexive possessive (sin/sit/sine) = refers back to the subject of the clause (his/her own)
• non-reflexive possessive (hans/hendes/deres) = refers to someone else’s (or is explicitly non-reflexive)

So:

• Han vil gøre sit bedste = He will do his (own) best.
• Han vil gøre hans bedste sounds wrong in normal Danish, because hans would suggest the “best” belongs to some other male person (or creates confusion).

How do I choose between sin, sit, and sine?

They agree with the thing being owned, not the owner:

• sin
  • common gender noun: sin bog (his/her own book)
• sit
  • neuter noun: sit hus (his/her own house)
• sine
  • plural: sine bøger (his/her own books)

Here bedste stands for something like det bedste (man kan), and the fixed phrase is gøre sit bedste.

What does til mean here, and why not på?

With eksamen, Danish commonly uses til to mean for / at (the occasion of):

• til eksamen = for the exam / in the exam context

You also see til with other events: til festen (for the party).
på eksamen can occur in some contexts, but til eksamen is the default for “for the exam.”

Why is it eksamen and not en eksamen?

Danish often omits the article in set expressions and in certain “institution/event” contexts:

• til eksamen is a common fixed phrasing, similar to English for exam(s) in some contexts.

If you specify it, you can add an article:

• til en eksamen = for an exam (one of them)
• til eksamenen = for the (specific) exam (less common phrasing; usually you’d rephrase)

Is i dansk “in Danish (the language)” or “in Denmark”?

i dansk here means in Danish (the subject/language), i.e., a Danish exam (Danish class/subject).
dansk as a language/subject is lowercase: dansk.
Denmark is Danmark, not dansk.

Why is dansk not capitalized?

In Danish, names of languages and nationalities are generally not capitalized:

• dansk, engelsk, tysk
  You capitalize proper nouns like Danmark, København, Hans.

Could I say Han skal gøre sit bedste ... instead of Han vil ...?

Yes, but the meaning shifts:

• Han vil gøre sit bedste = he wants/intends to do his best (volition)
• Han skal gøre sit bedste = he must/has to do his best (obligation)
• Han kommer til at gøre sit bedste = he’s going to end up doing his best / will do his best (often more predictive)

What’s the difference between gøre sit bedste and prøve sit bedste?

gøre sit bedste is the standard idiom: do one’s best.
prøve means try, so prøve sit bedste can be understood but is less idiomatic; many Danes would prefer:

• gøre sit bedste (do one’s best)
• prøve at gøre sit bedste (try to do one’s best)

Where does i dansk attach—does it describe eksamen or gøre sit bedste?

It naturally attaches to eksamen: eksamen i dansk = exam in Danish.
So the phrase is grouped like this: til [eksamen i dansk].

Can the word order change? For example: Han vil til eksamen i dansk gøre sit bedste.

You can move adverbials around, but that version sounds heavy/awkward. Natural alternatives are:

• Han vil gøre sit bedste til eksamen i dansk. (most neutral)
• Til eksamen i dansk vil han gøre sit bedste. (fronting for emphasis; still V2)
• Han vil gøre sit bedste i dansk til eksamen. (possible, but usually you keep eksamen i dansk together)

How would this sentence sound in more everyday spoken Danish?

Common spoken variants include:

• Han vil gøre sit bedste til danskeksamen. (compound noun)
• Han vil gøre sit bedste til eksamen. (if it’s clear which exam)
• Han gør sit bedste til eksamen i dansk. (present tense used for planned/typical situations)

What is danskeksamen and is it preferable?

danskeksamen is a compound noun: Danish exam. Danish frequently uses compounds instead of noun + i + subject:

• en danskeksamen = a Danish exam
  Both are correct; danskeksamen is often more compact and natural in writing and speech.

Does bedste need an article like det bedste?

In the fixed idiom gøre sit bedste, you don’t add an article. It’s a set expression meaning do one’s best.
You would use det bedste in other structures, e.g. Det bedste han kan gøre, er at læse (The best he can do is study).