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- "Ænderne svømmer ikke når svø…
"Ænderne svømmer ikke når svømmebassinet intet vand har."
Translation:The ducks do not swim when the pool has no water.
20 Comments
749
I am German, and when I translate the second part word by word into German without changing anything: "... wenn das Schwimmbecken kein Wasser hat." it is perfect. Nonetheless, the Danish sentence confused me, since I haven't seen such a word order before in Danish sentences here on Duolingo.
36
I think "har ikke vand" negates the verb ("does not have water") whereas "har intet vand" negates the subject ("has no water")
As far as I understand it, this Danish sentence is absolutely correct!
It consists of a main clause "Ænderne svømmer ikke..." and a subordinate clause "...når svømmebassinet intet vand har". Subordinate clauses require the syntax to differ.
I do not eat the apple = Jeg spiser ikke æblet
... because I do not eat the apple = ... fordi jeg ikke spiser æblet
Certain words (here "ikke" will be placed before the verb in subordinate clauses. It seems that the word "intet" causes the "intet vand" to go before the verb.
724
Svømmebassinet was the pool, and I got "wrong" for the swimming pool. Is this really serious?
283
I translated it to simply meaning empty, it's kind of annoying that some translations are accepted as general meanings and others, like this one, require direct word for word answers