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- "Shall I find a bed for you, …
"Shall I find a bed for you, sir?"
Translation:Skal jeg finde en seng til Dem, hr.?
11 Comments
2692
That's interesting. I have always believed "Hr" to be an abbreviation of "Herre", meaning "Sir, Mister or man." As much as I can see from the following link, there is no difference between the full and the abbreviated form. I would be glad if you could enlighten me more, and thanks for answering :) http://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=herre
Well, you're right that it is an abbreviation stemming from "herre", but when you use it in the indefinite, singular form it's " hr."
In definite singular you'd say "den herre" (which I believe it says further down in your link as well). :)
That being said though in Danish everyday language we hardly ever use it (we're overwhelmingly informal), but if we do it's the "hr."-form, which is pronounced like "herr" (omitting the e).
2692
I see. Well, thanks for the explanation Ellowyn (sounds Welsh to me), and much appreciated :)
Because the subject "you" and the object "you" are different in Danish :)
Think of it as the second person singular "you": When it is the subject of the sentence, we say "du"; however when it is the object of the sentence we say "dig":
You have a horse. = Du har en hest.
BUT
I love you. = Jeg elsker dig.
The same with De and Dem; De is used only as the subject; Dem is used as the object.
De har en hest. = You (polite) have a horse.
Jeg elsker Dem = I love you (polite).
Please note that both De and Dem are capitalised. I hope this helps.