Questions & Answers about Jeg kender en journalist, hvis artikler ofte bliver læst på radioens hjemmeside.
Why is hvis used here? Does it mean if?
In this sentence, hvis does not mean if. Here it means whose.
So:
- en journalist, hvis artikler ... = a journalist whose articles ...
Danish hvis is the possessive relative word used to connect a noun to something that belongs to it.
Compare:
- Jeg kender en mand, hvis bil er rød. = I know a man whose car is red.
- Hvis det regner, bliver vi hjemme. = If it rains, we will stay home.
So hvis can mean either whose or if, and the sentence structure tells you which one it is.
Why is it artikler and not artiklerne?
Because after a possessive word in Danish, the noun usually stays in the indefinite form, even though the meaning is definite in English.
Here:
- hvis artikler = whose articles
This works like:
- hendes bog = her book
- mine venner = my friends
- journalistens artikler = the journalist’s articles
So Danish does not usually say:
- hvis artiklerne in this kind of structure
That would normally sound wrong here.
Why is it bliver læst? Is that a passive form?
Yes. bliver læst is the passive voice.
- læser = reads / is reading
- læst = read (past participle)
- bliver læst = is read / gets read
So:
- artikler ofte bliver læst = articles are often read
Danish has two common ways to form the passive:
- blive + past participle
- bliver læst
- -s passive
- læses
So this sentence could also be written as:
- Jeg kender en journalist, hvis artikler ofte læses på radioens hjemmeside.
Both are correct. The version with bliver læst can sound a little more explicit or natural in many contexts.
Why is ofte placed before bliver?
Because this part of the sentence is a subordinate clause:
- hvis artikler ofte bliver læst på radioens hjemmeside
In Danish subordinate clauses, adverbs like ofte, ikke, altid, sjældent usually come before the finite verb.
So the order is:
- artikler = subject
- ofte = adverb
- bliver = finite verb
This is different from main-clause word order, where the finite verb is usually in second position.
Compare:
- Artiklerne bliver ofte læst. = main clause
- ..., hvis artikler ofte bliver læst. = subordinate clause
That difference in word order is very important in Danish.
Why is it radioens hjemmeside and not just radio hjemmeside or radios hjemmeside?
Radioens hjemmeside means the radio station’s website or the radio’s website.
Here is how it is built:
- radioen = the radio
- radioens = the radio’s
- hjemmeside = website
So Danish makes the possessive by adding -s to the definite form:
- radioen → radioens
This is very common:
- manden → mandens bil = the man’s car
- avisen → avisens navn = the newspaper’s name
So radioens hjemmeside is a normal genitive construction in Danish.
Why is it kender and not ved?
Because Danish distinguishes between knowing a person/thing and knowing information.
- kende = to know someone / be familiar with something
- vide = to know a fact / know that...
So:
- Jeg kender en journalist. = I know a journalist.
- Jeg ved, hvem journalisten er. = I know who the journalist is.
A native English speaker often overuses vide, because English uses know for both meanings. Danish does not.
Why is it en journalist and not journalisten?
Because the sentence introduces the person as new information.
- en journalist = a journalist
- journalisten = the journalist
If you say Jeg kender en journalist, you mean one journalist, not previously identified for the listener.
You would use journalisten if the person was already known from the context:
- Jeg kender journalisten. = I know the journalist.
So the indefinite form is natural here because it is the first mention.
Can hvis be used only for people, like English whose?
No. In Danish, hvis can also be used for things, not just people.
For example:
- et firma, hvis produkter sælger godt = a company whose products sell well
- en bog, hvis titel jeg har glemt = a book whose title I have forgotten
So in your sentence, hvis refers to en journalist, which is a person, but the word itself is not limited to people.
Could this sentence also be written without bliver, as hvis artikler ofte læses?
Yes, absolutely.
These two are both grammatical:
- hvis artikler ofte bliver læst på radioens hjemmeside
- hvis artikler ofte læses på radioens hjemmeside
The difference is mainly stylistic:
- bliver læst = periphrastic passive
- læses = -s passive
In many contexts they mean nearly the same thing. Learners should recognize both, because both are very common in Danish.
What exactly is the structure of the whole sentence?
It has a main clause followed by a relative clause.
Main clause:
- Jeg kender en journalist = I know a journalist
Relative clause:
- hvis artikler ofte bliver læst på radioens hjemmeside = whose articles are often read on the radio’s website
So the full structure is:
- Jeg kender en journalist
+ - hvis artikler ofte bliver læst på radioens hjemmeside
The relative clause gives extra information about en journalist. It tells you something about that journalist by talking about the journalist’s articles.
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