Breakdown of Hun får lov til at bruge salen, når læreren giver sin tilladelse.
Questions & Answers about Hun får lov til at bruge salen, når læreren giver sin tilladelse.
Får lov til at literally means gets permission to. It strongly emphasizes that permission is being given by someone.
So:
- Hun får lov til at bruge salen = She is allowed to use the hall / She gets permission to use the hall
- Hun må bruge salen = She may use the hall / She is allowed to use the hall
- Hun kan bruge salen = She can use the hall, which often sounds more like ability or practical possibility, not necessarily permission
In this sentence, får lov til at fits well because the second part explicitly mentions the teacher giving permission.
This is a fixed Danish pattern:
- at få lov til at + infinitive
So the structure is:
- får lov = gets permission
- til at bruge = to use
Even though English just says to use, Danish needs both parts in this expression. You should learn få lov til at as one chunk.
Examples:
- Jeg får lov til at gå tidligt. = I’m allowed to leave early.
- De fik lov til at komme ind. = They were allowed to come in.
Salen is the definite form of sal, meaning the hall or the room depending on context.
In Danish, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun:
- en sal = a hall
- salen = the hall
This is very common in Danish:
- en bog → bogen
- en lærer → læreren
- et hus → huset
So bruge salen means use the hall.
Når usually means when in the sense of something expected, repeated, or generally true.
Here, the idea is that she is allowed to use the hall when the teacher gives permission. That sounds like a real condition tied to a normal rule or expected situation.
Compare:
- når = when
- hvis = if
So:
- Hun får lov til at bruge salen, når læreren giver sin tilladelse. = She may use the hall when the teacher gives permission.
If you used hvis, it would sound more like a more uncertain if-condition:
- ... hvis læreren giver sin tilladelse = ... if the teacher gives permission
Sometimes both can be possible, but når suggests a more regular or expected condition here.
Danish often uses the present tense where English might use the future.
So:
- når læreren giver sin tilladelse literally looks like when the teacher gives his/her permission
- but in natural English it may correspond to when the teacher gives permission or when the teacher has given permission, depending on context
This is normal in Danish. Present tense is often used for future or conditional situations when the time reference is already clear.
Examples:
- Jeg ringer, når jeg kommer hjem. = I’ll call when I get home.
- Vi går, når han er klar. = We’ll leave when he is ready.
Sin is a reflexive possessive. It refers back to the subject of the same clause.
In the clause:
- når læreren giver sin tilladelse
the subject is læreren, so sin means the teacher’s own permission.
This is an important Danish distinction:
- sin/sit/sine = his/her/its/their own
- hans/hendes/dens/dets/deres = someone else’s
So:
- Læreren giver sin tilladelse = The teacher gives his/her own permission
- Læreren giver hendes tilladelse = The teacher gives her permission, where her refers to some other female person
That is why sin is the correct choice here.
Because this is a subordinate clause introduced by når.
In Danish:
- Main clauses often have verb-second word order
- Subordinate clauses usually keep a more straightforward order: subject + verb
So:
- Main clause: Hun får lov til at bruge salen
- Subordinate clause: når læreren giver sin tilladelse
If this were a main clause by itself, Danish would still often place the verb second:
- Læreren giver sin tilladelse.
But inside the når-clause, the normal pattern is simply læreren giver.
A related thing to notice: if the subordinate clause comes first, the main clause still keeps verb-second order:
- Når læreren giver sin tilladelse, får hun lov til at bruge salen.
Yes. That would be very natural Danish.
Compare:
- læreren giver sin tilladelse = the teacher gives his/her permission
- læreren giver hende lov = the teacher gives her permission / lets her
The version with tilladelse sounds a bit more formal or official. The version with lov is often more everyday and conversational.
For example:
- Hun får lov til at bruge salen, når læreren giver hende lov.
- Hun får lov til at bruge salen, når læreren giver sin tilladelse.
Both are correct. The second one sounds slightly more formal.
Not always. Sal can refer to a larger room, hall, auditorium, or similar space, depending on context.
So salen could be translated as:
- the hall
- the room
- the auditorium
- the gym hall
- the assembly hall
The exact English word depends on what kind of building or situation is meant. Danish often leaves that a bit broader than English does.
Yes, absolutely. That is a very natural alternative.
Both versions are correct:
- Hun får lov til at bruge salen, når læreren giver sin tilladelse.
- Når læreren giver sin tilladelse, får hun lov til at bruge salen.
The difference is mainly emphasis:
- Starting with Hun får lov ... puts the focus on her permission to use the hall
- Starting with Når læreren giver sin tilladelse ... puts the focus on the condition
Notice that when the når-clause comes first, the main clause changes word order:
- Når læreren giver sin tilladelse, får hun ...
- not Når læreren giver sin tilladelse, hun får ...
That is because Danish main clauses require the finite verb in second position.