Hun går hurtigt til stationen, fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent.

Breakdown of Hun går hurtigt til stationen, fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent.

til
to
hun
she
ville
to want
fordi
because
to walk
ikke
not
stationen
the station
komme for sent
to be late
hurtigt
fast

Questions & Answers about Hun går hurtigt til stationen, fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent.

Why is it går and not løber if she is trying not to be late?

Går literally means walks/goes on foot. In Danish, this sentence simply says she is walking quickly to the station.

If you wanted to say runs, you would normally use løber:

  • Hun løber til stationen = She runs to the station.

So går hurtigt means she is moving fast, but still walking.

What does hurtigt do in the sentence?

Hurtigt means quickly. It is an adverb, so it describes how she walks.

  • Hun går hurtigt = She walks quickly.

In Danish, adverbs like this often come after the verb:

  • Han taler langsomt = He speaks slowly.
  • De arbejder hurtigt = They work quickly.
Why is it til stationen and not something else?

Til means to in the sense of movement toward a place.

  • til stationen = to the station

So:

  • Hun går til stationen = She walks to the station.

The ending -en in stationen makes it definite:

  • en station = a station
  • stationen = the station
Why does stationen have -en at the end?

In Danish, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like the in English.

So:

  • en station = a station
  • stationen = the station

This is very common in Danish:

  • en bilbilen = the car
  • et hushuset = the house
What is the function of fordi?

Fordi means because. It introduces a reason.

So the sentence is structured like this:

  • Hun går hurtigt til stationen = main statement
  • fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent = reason

Together:

  • She walks quickly to the station because she does not want to arrive too late / be late.
Why is the word order after fordi different from English?

After fordi, Danish often uses subordinate clause word order. That means the infinitive marker and other sentence elements stay in a more normal order, and the finite verb does not jump forward the way it often does in a main clause.

Here you get:

  • fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent

Notice that ikke comes before vil in this sentence? Wait—actually, in standard Danish subordinate clauses, ikke usually comes before the infinitive or after the finite verb depending on structure. In this sentence, hun ikke vil komme is the normal pattern: subject + negation + modal verb + infinitive.

Compare with a main clause:

  • Hun vil ikke komme for sent = She does not want to be late.

So the placement of ikke is something learners should pay close attention to, especially with subordinate clauses and modal verbs.

What does vil komme mean here?

Vil usually means want to or sometimes will, depending on context. Here it means wants to.

  • hun vil komme = she wants to come / she intends to come

But in this sentence, the whole expression is:

  • hun ikke vil komme for sent

This is best understood as:

  • she does not want to arrive late
  • or she does not want to be late

So komme literally means come, but in expressions about time it often means arrive.

Why use komme for sent instead of just something meaning be late?

In Danish, komme for sent is a very common expression meaning arrive late or be late.

Literally:

  • komme = come
  • for sent = too late / late

So:

  • at komme for sent = to be late / to arrive late

This is just the natural Danish expression, even though English would not always use come in the same way.

What exactly does for sent mean?

For sent literally means too late.

In many contexts, though, it is translated naturally as late:

  • Jeg kom for sent = I was late / I arrived late
  • Hun vil ikke komme for sent = She does not want to be late

So even though for often means too, the whole phrase for sent is best learned as a fixed expression.

Why is hun repeated twice?

Because Danish, like English, usually repeats the subject in each clause.

  • Hun går hurtigt til stationen = She walks quickly to the station
  • fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent = because she does not want to be late

You cannot normally leave out the second hun.

English works the same way:

  • She walks quickly to the station because she doesn’t want to be late.
Is ikke vil the same as vil ikke?

Not always. Word order in Danish depends on clause type.

In a main clause, you would normally say:

  • Hun vil ikke komme for sent.

In a clause introduced by fordi, the order can be different:

  • fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent

So both can be correct, but they appear in different environments. This is part of Danish word order and is especially important with negation.

Could this sentence also mean She goes quickly to the station instead of walks quickly?

Possibly, depending on context, but går usually strongly suggests walks.

Danish often means:

  • walk
  • sometimes more generally go, depending on situation

In this sentence, most learners should understand it as:

  • She walks quickly to the station

If the idea were simply goes without emphasizing walking, Danish might use another verb depending on context.

How natural is this sentence in Danish?

It is understandable and grammatical. A very natural everyday sentence.

A Dane might also say similar things like:

  • Hun skynder sig til stationen, fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent.
    = She hurries to the station because she doesn’t want to be late.

  • Hun går hurtigt hen til stationen, fordi hun ikke vil komme for sent.
    = She walks quickly over to the station because she doesn’t want to be late.

But your original sentence is perfectly fine and clear.

What should I pay most attention to as a learner in this sentence?

A few key points:

  1. går = walks
  2. hurtigt = adverb, meaning quickly
  3. til stationen = to the station
  4. stationen = definite noun, the station
  5. fordi = because
  6. komme for sent = fixed expression meaning be late / arrive late
  7. Word order with ikke and vil is worth noticing carefully.

This sentence is a good example of basic Danish vocabulary plus an important bit of subordinate clause structure.

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