Breakdown of Hvis jeg ser forskellige datoer i kalenderen, bliver jeg i tvivl om, hvilken der er rigtig.
Questions & Answers about Hvis jeg ser forskellige datoer i kalenderen, bliver jeg i tvivl om, hvilken der er rigtig.
Why does the sentence start with Hvis, and could når be used instead?
Hvis introduces a condition: if.
Here, the sentence describes a general pattern:
- Hvis jeg ser forskellige datoer ... bliver jeg i tvivl ...
That can feel close to whenever in English, because it is not about one single event, but about what typically happens in that situation.
Could når be used? Sometimes når can mean when/whenever, but hvis is the more natural choice when the speaker is presenting the situation as a condition: if this happens, then I react like this.
Why are there commas after kalenderen and om?
They mark clause boundaries.
Hvis jeg ser forskellige datoer i kalenderen,
This is a subordinate clause introduced by hvis, so it is separated from the main clause with a comma.... bliver jeg i tvivl om, hvilken der er rigtig.
Here hvilken der er rigtig is an embedded question, and Danish normally separates that clause with a comma too.
So the commas are doing grammatical work, not just stylistic work.
Why is the word order bliver jeg instead of jeg bliver?
This is because Danish main clauses follow the verb-second rule.
The first position in the sentence is taken by the whole Hvis clause:
- Hvis jeg ser forskellige datoer i kalenderen
Once that first slot is filled, the finite verb of the main clause must come next:
- bliver
Then comes the subject:
- jeg
So:
- Hvis jeg ser forskellige datoer i kalenderen, bliver jeg i tvivl ...
If there were no opening Hvis clause, you would say:
- Jeg bliver i tvivl om, hvilken der er rigtig.
Why is it forskellige datoer?
Because forskellige is the adjective forskellig in its plural form.
- datoer = dates, plural
- adjectives in Danish usually take -e in the plural
So:
- forskellige datoer = different dates
Compare:
- en stor bog = a big book
- store bøger = big books
The same pattern is happening here.
Why is it i kalenderen, and what does -en mean?
Kalenderen means the calendar.
In Danish, the definite article is often added to the end of the noun:
- en kalender = a calendar
- kalenderen = the calendar
The preposition i means in, and that is the natural choice here because the dates are understood as being written inside the calendar.
So:
- i kalenderen = in the calendar
What does bliver jeg i tvivl om mean grammatically?
This contains the fixed expression at blive i tvivl om noget.
It literally works like:
- blive = become
- i tvivl = in doubt / unsure
- om = about / as to
So the structure means:
- I become unsure about ...
- I start doubting ...
This is a very common Danish expression.
Why is it bliver and not er?
Because bliver focuses on the change into that state.
- jeg er i tvivl = I am unsure
- jeg bliver i tvivl = I become unsure
In this sentence, the idea is:
- first I see conflicting dates
- then I become uncertain
So bliver is exactly right.
Why is there om before the last clause?
Because i tvivl normally takes om.
You can be uncertain:
- om noget = about something
- om, hvad der er rigtigt = about what is correct
- om, hvilken der er rigtig = about which one is correct
So om belongs to the expression i tvivl om.
Why is it hvilken and not hvilke?
Because the sentence is asking about one correct date out of several possible dates.
- hvilken = which one, singular
- hvilke = which ones, plural
Even though datoer earlier in the sentence is plural, the speaker is trying to identify the single correct one.
So:
- hvilken der er rigtig = which one is correct
If more than one were correct, you would expect something like:
- hvilke der er rigtige
Why is it hvilken der er rigtig instead of hvilken er rigtig?
Because this is an embedded question, not a direct question.
Direct question:
- Hvilken er rigtig?
Embedded question:
- ... hvilken der er rigtig
In Danish, embedded questions do not use normal question word order. They use clause word order instead.
Also, der appears here because hvilken is the subject of the embedded clause.
A useful comparison:
- Jeg ved ikke, hvem der kommer.
Here hvem is the subject, so der appears.
But:
- Jeg ved ikke, hvem du kender.
Here hvem is the object, so there is no der.
In your sentence, hvilken is the one that is correct, so it functions as the subject of er rigtig.
Why is the word rigtig used here?
Rigtig is a very common everyday word meaning right or correct.
So:
- den rigtige dato = the correct date
- hvilken der er rigtig = which one is correct
You could sometimes also hear korrekt, but rigtig is more natural in ordinary speech in a sentence like this.
Why is the present tense used in both parts of the sentence?
Because the sentence describes a general situation or repeated experience, not one specific past or future event.
Danish often uses the present tense for this kind of pattern:
- Hvis jeg ser ... bliver jeg ...
This is similar to English sentences like:
- If I see different dates, I get confused.
So the present tense here expresses a usual reaction.
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