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Til nytår bliver vi alligevel oppe længe, selvom vi er trætte.

Til nytår bliver vi alligevel oppe længe, selvom vi er trætte.
At New Year we still stay up late, even though we are tired.
FromLesson 29inHardcore Danish

Questions & Answers about Til nytår bliver vi alligevel oppe længe, selvom vi er trætte.

What does til nytår mean here? Is it at New Year or on New Year’s Eve?

Here til nytår means something like at New Year / around New Year.

In everyday use, Danish nytår often refers to the New Year celebration period, especially the evening and night when people celebrate. So in this sentence, an English speaker would usually understand it as:

  • at New Year
  • on New Year’s Eve
  • when New Year comes

If you want to be very specific about the evening itself, Danish often uses på nytårsaften for on New Year’s Eve.

So:

  • Til nytår = at New Year / when New Year comes
  • På nytårsaften = on New Year’s Eve

In this sentence, til nytår is perfectly natural because it sets the time in a broad, idiomatic way.

Why does the sentence start with Til nytår?

Because Danish very often puts a time expression first to set the scene.

So instead of starting with Vi..., Danish can begin with:

  • Til nytår = at New Year
  • I morgen = tomorrow
  • Om aftenen = in the evening

This is very common and natural.

But when something other than the subject comes first in a Danish main clause, Danish uses verb-second word order. That leads to:

  • Til nytår bliver vi...

not

  • Til nytår vi bliver...

So the first position is taken by Til nytår, and the finite verb bliver must come next.

Why is it bliver vi and not vi bliver?

This is the classic Danish V2 rule: in a main clause, the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

Compare:

  • Vi bliver alligevel oppe længe.
  • Til nytår bliver vi alligevel oppe længe.

In the first sentence, vi is first, so bliver comes second.

In the second sentence, Til nytår is first, so bliver still has to be second, and the subject vi moves after it.

This kind of inversion is very common in Danish and is one of the first big word-order patterns English speakers need to get used to.

Why is bliver used here? Doesn’t blive usually mean become?

Yes, blive often means become, but it also has other uses.

In the expression blive oppe, it means stay up.

So:

  • at blive oppe = to stay up
  • vi bliver oppe = we stay up / we will stay up

This is an idiomatic expression, and you should learn it as a whole chunk:

  • blive oppe længe = stay up late

So in this sentence, bliver does not mean become in the literal English sense. It is part of the expression for remaining awake and not going to bed.

Why is the present tense bliver used for a future meaning?

Because Danish often uses the present tense for future events when the time is already clear from context.

Here, Til nytår already tells you the action is in the future, so Danish does not need a separate future form.

That is very normal:

  • I morgen går jeg tidligt i seng. = Tomorrow I’m going to bed early.
  • Til sommer rejser vi til Spanien. = In the summer we’re traveling to Spain.
  • Til nytår bliver vi oppe længe. = At New Year we’ll stay up late.

Danish can also use vil for future, but it is not required here.

What does alligevel mean in this sentence?

Alligevel means anyway, all the same, or nevertheless.

It shows contrast: even though we are tired, we will still stay up late.

So the logic is:

  • we are tired
  • but despite that, we stay up late

That is exactly what alligevel adds.

A natural English translation would be:

  • We’ll stay up late anyway
  • We’ll still stay up late
  • We’ll stay up late nevertheless

In this sentence, alligevel works together very naturally with selvom:

  • selvom vi er trætte = although we are tired
  • alligevel = still / anyway
Why is alligevel placed after vi?

That is the normal position for many sentence adverbs in Danish main clauses.

In a main clause, after the finite verb and subject, Danish often places words like:

  • ikke
  • nok
  • alligevel
  • måske

So:

  • Til nytår bliver vi alligevel oppe længe.

Structure:

  • Til nytår = first element
  • bliver = finite verb
  • vi = subject
  • alligevel = sentence adverb
  • oppe længe = rest of the predicate

That placement is very standard.

Why is it selvom vi er trætte and not selvom er vi trætte?

Because selvom introduces a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses have different word order from main clauses.

After selvom, the subject usually comes before the verb:

  • selvom vi er trætte = although we are tired

Compare:

Main clause:

  • Vi er trætte.

Subordinate clause:

  • selvom vi er trætte

So English speakers need to remember:

  • main clause after fronting often has inversion
  • subordinate clause after selvom does not

That contrast is very important in Danish syntax.

What exactly does selvom mean?

Selvom means although, even though, or though.

It introduces a contrast:

  • selvom vi er trætte = although we are tired

The idea is that being tired would normally make you go to bed earlier, but the main clause says the opposite happens:

  • we stay up late anyway

So the whole sentence has this structure:

  • time: Til nytår
  • main statement: bliver vi alligevel oppe længe
  • contrast clause: selvom vi er trætte
Why is it trætte and not træt?

Because the subject is vi = we, which is plural.

In Danish, predicate adjectives usually agree with number, so:

  • jeg er træt = I am tired
  • han er træt = he is tired
  • vi er trætte = we are tired
  • de er trætte = they are tired

So trætte is the plural form.

This is a very common pattern in Danish adjectives.

What does oppe længe mean exactly? Why not just one word for late?

Oppe means up, and længe means for a long time or, in this context, late.

Together with blive oppe, it means:

  • stay up late
  • literally: stay up for a long time

So:

  • blive oppe = stay up
  • blive oppe længe = stay up late

Danish often expresses this idea with oppe + længe, rather than matching English word-for-word with a single adverb like late.

Could I also say Vi bliver alligevel oppe længe til nytår?

Yes, that is possible, but the emphasis changes a little.

  • Til nytår bliver vi alligevel oppe længe puts the time expression first and gives it prominence.
  • Vi bliver alligevel oppe længe til nytår sounds more like the basic statement comes first, with the time added later.

Both are understandable, but the version with Til nytår first feels especially natural when setting the scene or topic of the sentence.

Is selvom one word or two?

In modern standard Danish, selvom is normally written as one word when it means although / even though.

So in this sentence:

  • selvom vi er trætte

That is the standard spelling learners should use.

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