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Til sidst slukker jeg lyset i stuen og går i seng.

Til sidst slukker jeg lyset i stuen og går i seng.
In the end, I turn off the light in the living room and go to bed.
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Questions & Answers about Til sidst slukker jeg lyset i stuen og går i seng.

Why does Til sidst come first, and what kind of phrase is it?

Til sidst is a time adverbial meaning something like in the end / finally / lastly. Danish often puts a time/place adverbial first to set the scene. When you do that, it triggers the usual Danish main-clause word order rule where the verb comes in position 2 (V2), which is why the next word is the verb slukker.

Why is the word order Til sidst slukker jeg ... and not Til sidst jeg slukker ...?

Because Danish main clauses follow V2 word order: the finite verb (here slukker) must be the second element in the clause.
So if you start with Til sidst (element 1), the verb must come next, and the subject follows:

  • Til sidst (1) + slukker (2) + jeg (subject)

If you start with the subject, you’d get:

  • Jeg slukker til sidst lyset ...
What tense is slukker and går, and why is it used here?

Both slukker (turn off) and går (go) are present tense forms. Danish commonly uses the present tense to describe habits/routines (what you typically do), not only what is happening right now. So this sentence naturally describes a routine step at the end of a sequence.

Why is it lyset and not et lys?

Lyset is definite: it means the light (a specific one you and the listener can identify, e.g., the usual living-room light).

  • et lys = a light / a candle / a (single) light source (indefinite, introducing it as new information)
    In everyday “turn off the light” situations, Danish typically uses the definite: slukke lyset.
How does the definite form work in lyset and stuen?

Danish usually marks definiteness by adding an ending to the noun:

  • lys (light) → lyset (the light)
  • stue (living room) → stuen (the living room)

So Danish often doesn’t need a separate word like the in front; the “the-meaning” is built into the noun ending.

Why is it i stuen and not på stuen?

i is used for being inside an enclosed space/room: in the living room → i stuen.
på is more like on a surface, or in some cases “at” a place (and it’s also used for some institutions/locations by convention), but for rooms in a home, i + room is the standard choice.

What’s going on with går i seng—why not går i sengen?

gå i seng is an idiomatic set phrase meaning go to bed (the activity of going to sleep). In this expression, Danish typically uses seng without the definite ending:

  • gå i seng = go to bed (routine action)

If you say gå i sengen, it sounds more literal/specific (going into a particular bed, or focusing on the physical bed), and it’s less common for the everyday “go to bed” meaning.

Why is there no repeated subject after og—why not og jeg går i seng?

Because the subject jeg applies to both verbs. Danish (like English) often omits repeating the subject when two verbs share the same subject:

  • ... slukker jeg ... og går i seng = ... I turn off ... and (I) go to bed

You can say og jeg går i seng, but it adds emphasis or a stronger separation between the actions.

Is slukke used with or without for? I’ve seen slukke for lyset.

Both exist, with a small nuance:

  • slukke lyset is very common and direct: “turn off the light.”
  • slukke for lyset is also common and can feel slightly more explicit, like “switch off the power to the light.”

In many everyday contexts they’re interchangeable, but slukke (noget) is especially natural with lyset, lampen, fjernsynet, etc.

Could I move Til sidst to another position in the sentence?

Yes. Common alternatives are:

  • Jeg slukker til sidst lyset i stuen og går i seng. (subject first; til sidst placed mid-sentence)
  • Jeg slukker lyset i stuen og går i seng til sidst. (possible, but often sounds a bit heavier/less natural than placing til sidst earlier)

Putting Til sidst first is a very typical storytelling/routine style in Danish.

How is this sentence pronounced (roughly), and are there any tricky sounds?

A rough pronunciation guide (very approximate):

  • Til sidst ≈ “til seest” (the d in sidst is very soft)
  • slukker ≈ “SLOO-guh” (the -er ending is reduced)
  • lyset ≈ “LOO-suh” (often reduced; the y is a front rounded vowel—like German ü)
  • stuen ≈ “STOO-en” (two syllables, with a Danish-style u)
  • seng ≈ “seng” with a Danish e and final ng sound

The biggest challenge for English speakers is usually the vowel in y (as in lyset) and how much endings like -er get reduced in normal speech.

Why is there no comma before og here?

In Danish, you normally don’t put a comma between two verbs/actions in the same clause when og just links them:

  • slukker ... og går ... = one clause with two coordinated verbs

A comma becomes relevant when you’re separating clauses (especially with a new subject or a subordinate clause), but this sentence is straightforward coordination, so no comma is needed.