Jeg skal underrette banken.

Skal is the present tense of skulle, and in a sentence like this it usually expresses obligation, necessity, or a planned action.

So Jeg skal underrette banken can correspond to:

• I must notify the bank
• I have to notify the bank
• sometimes I’m supposed to notify the bank

Although shall is the traditional dictionary match, in modern English shall is often not the most natural translation. In real use, skal is often closer to must / have to / am going to, depending on context.

Because underrette comes after the modal verb skal.

After modal verbs in Danish—such as kan, vil, må, skal, bør—the next verb normally stays in the infinitive form:

• Jeg skal underrette banken
• Jeg vil underrette banken
• Jeg kan underrette banken

If you said underretter, that would be a finite present-tense verb, and then you would effectively have two fully conjugated verbs in the same simple clause, which is not how Danish works here.

After a modal verb like skal, Danish normally uses the bare infinitive, without at.

So:

• Jeg skal underrette banken = correct
• Jeg skal at underrette banken = incorrect

This is similar to English:

• I must notify the bank
• not I must to notify the bank

So the pattern is:

• subject + modal verb + infinitive + object

Underrette means to notify, to inform officially, or to give formal notice to.

It is a fairly formal word. In everyday speech, many Danes might more naturally say:

• informere banken
• give banken besked
• meddele banken

So underrette is correct, but it sounds more formal or official than some alternatives.

In Danish, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.

So:

• en bank = a bank
• banken = the bank

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Instead of putting the before the noun, Danish often adds the definite ending directly to the noun.

Here:

• bank
  • -en = banken

Because bank is a common-gender noun in Danish, and the singular definite ending for common-gender nouns is usually -en.

So:

• en bank = a bank
• banken = the bank

Compare:

• en bil → bilen
• en skole → skolen

If it were a neuter noun, you would usually see -et instead.

Yes. Banken means the bank, so it refers to a bank that is already known from the context.

That could mean:

• your own bank
• a bank already mentioned earlier
• the relevant bank in the situation

If you meant a bank in a more general sense, you would say en bank instead.

The word order is:

Jeg + skal + underrette + banken
subject + finite verb + infinitive + object

In a normal main clause, Danish puts the finite verb early in the sentence. Here, the finite verb is skal.

So the structure is very straightforward:

• Jeg = subject
• skal = finite/modal verb
• underrette = infinitive
• banken = direct object

This is a very common Danish sentence pattern.

Yes. Banken is the direct object of underrette.

The verb underrette takes an object directly:

• underrette nogen = notify someone
• underrette banken = notify the bank

So banken is the thing or person being notified.

Yes, it sounds somewhat formal because of underrette.

More everyday alternatives could be:

• Jeg skal informere banken
• Jeg skal give banken besked
• Jeg skal meddele banken noget (also somewhat formal, but common)

So if you saw this sentence in a letter, legal context, official instructions, or bureaucratic language, that would make a lot of sense.

In a yes/no question, Danish typically puts the finite verb before the subject:

• Skal jeg underrette banken?

So:

• statement: Jeg skal underrette banken.
• question: Skal jeg underrette banken?

This verb-before-subject pattern is very common in Danish questions.

A rough learner-friendly guide is:

• underrette ≈ OON-er-ret-uh
• banken ≈ BANG-kən or BANG-gen depending on accent and how narrowly you describe it

A few important points:

• Danish pronunciation is often less phonetic than spelling suggests.
• The d in underrette is not pronounced like a strong English d.
• The final -e in underrette is usually a weak schwa-like sound.
• banken has a soft, reduced final syllable.

If you are learning pronunciation, it is best to listen to native audio, because Danish sound reduction can be tricky from spelling alone.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• Jeg skal underrette banken = I must / have to / am supposed to notify the bank
• Jeg må underrette banken = I must / am allowed to notify the bank, depending on context
• Jeg vil underrette banken = I want to / will notify the bank

So skal is specifically a good choice when the sentence is about obligation or requirement.