Hun håber at blive ansat i firmaet.

She hopes to be hired at the company.

Breakdown of Hun håber at blive ansat i firmaet.

• at: to
• hun: she
• håbe: to hope
• i: at

Questions & Answers about Hun håber at blive ansat i firmaet.

What does at mean here? Is it to or that?

Here, at is the infinitive marker, so it means to.

So:

• at blive ansat = to be hired / to become employed

Danish at can also mean that in other sentences, so this is a very common point of confusion for learners. In this sentence, it is definitely the to-type at, not the that-type.

Why is it håber at blive and not just håber blive?

Because Danish normally uses at before an infinitive.

After håber, you normally say:

• håber at blive
• not håber blive

English sometimes drops to in certain structures, but Danish usually keeps at unless the verb is a modal verb such as kan, vil, skal, må.

So:

• Hun håber at blive ansat = correct
• Hun håber blive ansat = not standard Danish

Why does Danish use blive ansat here?