Word
Når babyen kaster en legeklods, kigger hunden på hende.
Meaning
When the baby throws a toy block, the dog looks at her.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Når babyen kaster en legeklods, kigger hunden på hende.
hunden
the dog
en
a
når
when
kigge på
to look at
Questions & Answers about Når babyen kaster en legeklods, kigger hunden på hende.
Why does babyen end in -en?
In Danish, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.
- baby = a baby
- babyen = the baby
So babyen means the baby. This is different from English, where the is a separate word.
The same pattern works with many common-gender nouns:
- en hund = a dog
- hunden = the dog
Why is it en legeklods but babyen?
Because one noun is indefinite and the other is definite.
- en legeklods = a toy block
- babyen = the baby
Danish usually shows this contrast like this:
- en/et + noun for a/an
- noun + -en/-et for the
So here:
- en legeklods = an indefinite object, a toy block
- babyen = a specific baby already understood in the context, the baby
What does når mean here?