Breakdown of Min søster følger et dansk kursus om aftenen, selvom hun arbejder hele dagen.
Questions & Answers about Min søster følger et dansk kursus om aftenen, selvom hun arbejder hele dagen.
What does følger mean here? I thought it meant follows.
Yes, the basic meaning of følger is follows, but in this context følger et kursus means takes / attends a course.
So:
- følge en person = follow a person
- følge et kursus = take/attend a course
This is a very common use in Danish, even though it sounds a bit different from English.
Why is it min søster and not mit søster?
Because søster is a common-gender noun in Danish, and common-gender nouns take en and possessives like min.
- en søster
- min søster
If the noun were neuter, you would use mit instead:
- et hus
- mit hus
Why is it et kursus and not en kursus?
Because kursus is a neuter noun.
In Danish, every noun is either:
- common gender → takes en
- neuter → takes et
So:
- et kursus
- kurset = the course
This is something you usually just have to learn together with the noun.
Why is dansk written with a small letter?
In Danish, words for languages, nationalities, and related adjectives are normally not capitalized.
So Danish writes:
- dansk
- engelsk
- tysk
Where English writes:
- Danish
- English
- German
That is completely normal in Danish spelling.
Why is it et dansk kursus and not et danskt kursus?
This is because dansk is one of the adjectives that does not add -t here, even though the noun kursus is neuter.
Compare:
- et stort hus → stor becomes stort
- et dansk kursus → dansk stays dansk
So the correct form here is:
- en dansk bog
- et dansk kursus
- danske bøger
Does et dansk kursus definitely mean a course in the Danish language?
Not always 100% definitely.
Et dansk kursus can mean a Danish course, but if you want to be very clear that it is a course in the Danish language, Danish often uses:
- et kursus i dansk = a course in Danish
- et danskkursus = a Danish course / Danish-language course
So your sentence is understandable, but et kursus i dansk is often the clearest way to say it.
Why is it om aftenen and not i aften?
Because om aftenen means something like in the evening / in the evenings, often as a regular time.
- om aftenen = in the evening / in the evenings
- i aften = tonight / this evening
So here, the sentence means she does this in the evenings, not specifically tonight.
Why is aftenen in the definite form?
This is part of a common Danish time expression.
Danish often uses:
- om morgenen = in the morning
- om dagen = during the day
- om aftenen = in the evening
- om natten = at night
So even though English often uses no article in these expressions, Danish commonly uses the definite form.
What does hele dagen mean, and why is it dagen?
Hele dagen means the whole day or all day.
After hele, Danish very often uses the definite form:
- hele dagen = the whole day
- hele ugen = the whole week
- hele året = the whole year
So hele dagen is the normal Danish way to say all day.
Why is there a comma before selvom?
Because selvom introduces a subordinate clause:
- main clause: Min søster følger et dansk kursus om aftenen
- subordinate clause: selvom hun arbejder hele dagen
In Danish, subordinate clauses are normally separated with a comma in writing. So the comma here is standard.
Why is the word order selvom hun arbejder and not selvom arbejder hun?
Because selvom introduces a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses normally have subject + verb order.
So:
- selvom hun arbejder hele dagen = although she works all day
In a main clause, Danish usually has verb-second word order, but after a subordinating conjunction like selvom, you do not use that main-clause inversion pattern.
Is this sentence describing a habit, or something happening right now?
It most naturally describes a habit or a regular situation.
The present tense in Danish can be used for:
- things happening now
- regular actions
- general facts
Here, because of om aftenen and hele dagen, the sentence sounds like a repeated routine:
- she attends a Danish course in the evenings
- even though she works all day
Could you also say tager et kursus or går på et kursus?
Yes. All of these can work, but they are used a bit differently:
- følger et kursus = follows/takes a course
- tager et kursus = takes a course
- går på et kursus = goes to/attends a course
In this sentence, følger et kursus is perfectly natural. A learner should just remember that Danish often uses følge where English would say take or attend.
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