"What do the whales eat?"

Translation:Hvad spiser hvalerne?

June 17, 2015

13 Comments
This discussion is locked.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MarisaDinis

... is the title of Ylvis b-side song.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Pat211087

So how would I write in Danish 'What eats the whales?'


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MJGraham939

I'm not a native Danish speaker and I certainly do not know the language well enough to answer your question. But I do believe that vagueness and ambiguity are part of all languages. So I wouldn't be entirely surprised if the answer to your question was "Hvad spiser hvalerne?"

Of course, as with any potential ambiguous utterance, you may, as a listener, have to ask for clarification. Or as a speaker you may clarify what you are saying by giving more information to the listener (e.g. "Hvad dyr spiser hvalerne?" ("What animals are eating the whales?"


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Heidijan

Unamigously, you could say something like "Hvad er det, der spiser hvalerne?" or "Hvilket dyr er det, der spiser hvalerne?".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Lesley229192

Can this also mean What eats the whales?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/DragonNights

Yes, actually it can. But probably wouldn't be understood that way out of a specific context.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/J.C.M.H.

Plancton.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Lesley229192

Actually it’s spelt plankton. And while most whales eat krill and not plankton, not all do. Orcas eat meat, seals for example.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Imapetsitter

On the last one, I had the pet drinks the juice, and was marked wrong.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SandraTabra

Non-related to the topic discussed earlier, I wrote "hvalene" instead of "hvalerne" as it said in the suggestion and the answer was accepted without indicating a typo. Which one was the correct form? I have noticed some nouns have the "r" in the plural articulated form, while others do not have it, that is why I am asking which form was correct here.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/J.C.M.H.

The correct form in Danish is hvalerne. The form hvalene is Norwegian Bokmål.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SandraTabra

Thank you for your reply! So sorry I didn't see it so far because it was the first time I had asked a question and I usually use my phone, so there was no notification of a reply anywhere. Anyway, thank you for helping me understand. I will only use "hvalerne" for Danish :)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/J.C.M.H.

Det var så lidt, Sandra!

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