Hvad er en hovedsætning?
What is a main clause?
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A stand alone sentence.
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A sentence that makes sense on its own.
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A complete sentence.
For example:
Jeg danser altid om morgenen.
I always dance in the morning.
This sentence makes perfect sense on its own. It is a complete sentence. Therefore, this is en hovedsætning.
Hvad er ordstillingen i en hovedsætning?
What is the word order in a main clause?
Let’s take the above example.
S V A
Jeg danser altid om morgenen
I always dance in the morning.
As you can see, the word order is: subject, verb, adverb.
Jeg = subject
Danser = verb
Altid = adverb
Notice how in English you would say: I always dance…
Whereas is Danish you are saying: I dance always…
It’s important that the verb comes first. This is the basic structure for simple sentences in Danish.
Hovedsætningskonjunktioner
Main clause conjunctions
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There are only five main clause conjunctions.
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By remembering these conjunctions you can ensure you have correct word order.
The five conjunctions are:
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Og (and)
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For (because)
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Eller (or)
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Men (but)
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Så (so, therefore, so that)
So, if you join two sentences using one of the above conjunctions, this tells you that you have two main clauses, and thus, that your word order needs to be: subject, verb, adverb (in both cases).
For example:
S V A K S V A
Jeg danser altid om morgenen og jeg stopper aldrig.
I always dance in the morning and I’ll never stop.
If we take away the conjunction, we are left with:
Jeg stopper aldrig.
I’ll never stop.
That is, we have two main clauses with the same word order: subject, verb, adverb.
Jeg = subject
Danser = verb
Altid = adverb
- Og = conjunction
Jeg = subject
Stopper = verb
Aldrig = adverb
Here’s one more example:
S V A K S V A
Min kat hader faktisk kattemad, men den spiser heldigvis kartofler.
My cat actually hates cat food, but it, luckily, eats potatoes.
Min kat = subject
Hader = verb
Faktisk = adverb
- Men = conjunction
Den = subject
spiser = verb
Heldigvis = adverb