Welcome back to another grammar focused lesson. In this lesson we’ll expand on our two previous lessons where we talked about main-clauses, subordinate-clauses and word order. Let’s make a quick recap. 

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Hvad er en hovedsætning? 

What is a main-clause?

 

• A stand alone sentence.

• A sentence that makes sense on its own. 

• A complete sentence. 

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Hvad er ordstillingen i en hovedsætning? 

What is the word order in a main clause?

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• SVA / Subject, Verb, Adverb

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Hvad er en ledsætning? 

What is a subordinate clause?

 

• A sentence that cannot stand alone.

• A sentence that DOESN'T make sense on its own. 

• An incomplete sentence. 

 

 

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Hvad er ordstillingen i en ledsætning? 

What is the word order in a subordinate clause?

 

• SAV / Subject, Adverb, Verb

 

For example:

 

S     V           A                        K           S    A           V

Jeg danser måske i dag, selvom jeg faktisk er træt.  

I’ll maybe dance today, even though I’m tired.

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Hvad sker der, når et adverbium kommer først i en sætning? 

What happens when an adverb comes first in a sentence?

 

Simply, we get what is known as inversion. It’s actually a very simple rule. 

 

S      V           A

Jeg danser måske i dag. 

I’ll maybe dance today.

 

Now, if we put the adverb at the start, what happens?

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A          V           S

Måske danser jeg i dag. 

Maybe I’ll dance today.

 

The two sentences mean the same. All that has happened is that the words jeg and måske have swapped places. The verb stays where it is. So what is the word order now?

 

AVS / Adverb, Verb, Subject

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Opsummering 

Conclusion

 

Well, that's it. Moving on...

 

No, I'm joking. Okay, well you can see how this construction is slightly different to English in that the verb comes first. This is usually the main reason for writing it incorrectly. In English you say: Maybe I'll dance whereas in Danish you say maybe dance I. It's as if Yoda were speaking Danish. 

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Practice your skills below.