Breakdown of Hvis hendes cv er klart i aften, tror hun, at hun snart bliver ansat.
Questions & Answers about Hvis hendes cv er klart i aften, tror hun, at hun snart bliver ansat.
Why is it tror hun instead of hun tror?
Because Danish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must come in the second position.
Here, the whole clause Hvis hendes cv er klart i aften comes first. That means the verb of the main clause must come next:
- Hvis hendes cv er klart i aften, tror hun ...
If there were no fronted Hvis-clause, the normal order would be:
- Hun tror, at hun snart bliver ansat.
So this is a very common Danish word-order pattern.
Why does the sentence use hvis?
Hvis is used for a real condition, like English if.
So Hvis ... means if ...
A common learner confusion is with om. Danish om can mean whether/if in indirect questions, but not this kind of condition.
Compare:
- Hvis hendes cv er klart ... = a condition
- Hun ved ikke, om hendes cv er klart. = she does not know whether her CV is ready
Why is it hendes cv and not sit cv?
Because sin/sit/sine can only refer back to the subject of the same clause.
In the clause Hvis hendes cv er klart i aften, the subject is hendes cv, not hun. So Danish does not use sit here.
That is why hendes is correct.
Compare:
Hun sender sit cv.
Here hun is the subject of the same clause, so sit is possible.Hvis hendes cv er klart ...
Here hun is not the subject of that clause, so hendes is used.
Why is it klart with -t?
Because cv is a neuter noun in Danish: et cv.
When an adjective matches a singular neuter noun, it usually takes -t:
- en rapport er klar
- et cv er klart
So klart agrees with cv.
Why is there at after tror hun?
Because at introduces a subordinate content clause, similar to English that.
After verbs like tro, vide, sige, and mene, Danish often uses at before the clause that follows:
- Hun tror, at hun snart bliver ansat.
In everyday speech, at is sometimes omitted, but in normal written Danish it is very common to keep it.
Why is it bliver ansat and not er ansat?
Bliver ansat focuses on the event of getting hired.
Er ansat describes the state of already being employed.
So the difference is roughly:
- bliver ansat = gets hired / is hired
- er ansat = is employed
Here the sentence is about what she thinks will happen soon, so bliver ansat fits better.
How can the sentence refer to the future without using a special future tense?
Danish often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially when a time expression makes it clear.
In this sentence, the future idea is shown by:
- i aften
- snart
So Danish does not need a separate word like English will here.
This is very normal:
- Vi ses i morgen.
- Hun kommer snart.
- Hun bliver snart ansat.
Why is it i aften?
I aften is the normal Danish expression for this evening / tonight.
Danish often uses i with fixed time expressions like this:
- i dag
- i morgen
- i aften
So i aften is just the natural idiomatic form.
Why are there commas after aften and before at?
Because Danish uses commas to mark subordinate clauses.
In this sentence there are two subordinate clauses:
- Hvis hendes cv er klart i aften
- at hun snart bliver ansat
So the commas help show where those clauses begin or end:
- after the initial Hvis-clause
- before the at-clause
This punctuation is very typical in written Danish.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning DanishMaster Danish — from Hvis hendes cv er klart i aften, tror hun, at hun snart bliver ansat to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions