Help!
In the sentence, "At rejse er at leve." is the "At" in the beginning of the sentence pronounced differently that the "at" near the end of the sentence?
Online, Den Danske Ordbog stated that "at" is pronounced [ʌ] og "i begyndelsen af en sætning også [ad]"
Tak!
Oct 26, 2026, 11:26 PM@wannabemystiker pronounced the same (like the first "sharp" At, not Ad)
Oct 27, 2026, 2:30 PM@jippi @wannabemystiker Probably depends a bit on regional dialect.
I can see myself pronouncing that first At more sharply, while the one in the middle you might almost drop the t, so it sounds like “At rejse er a’d leve”.
@philip
Tak, Philip!
@wannabemystiker
The main factor is formality. ʌ (written 'og') is less formal, traditionally seen as grammatically incorrect and more used in speech than in writing. 'At' is in fact more used at the beginning of sentences.
The example is a poor choice as it's a fossilized famous quotation.
More relevant:
Jeg skal ud at/og løbe i weekenden.
I would choose og in speech (unless perhaps giving an extremely formal speech). Normal people (perhaps not me) would also choose og when texting. Writing for a newspaper I'd definitely go with at. Or the editor would.
Next example:
At løbe er jo ikke hårdt, når først man kommer i gang.
Being at the beginning of a sentence it pulls toward at. In speech og is fine but at can be used without sounding stilted. At is also likely in SMS.
@wannabemystiker
But there's some grammatical factors I can't decode:
Har du hørt, at hun er gravid?
Here it is never og. The alternative is to leave out the word entirely.
Also, Jutlandic dialects tend more towards og I think. At least when speaking dialect, the first example would use double og. Maybe that filters through, even when Jutlanders speak rigsdansk?
@notsoloud
Mange tak for your thorough answers! 😀