Vi tjekker afgangstavlen, i tilfælde af at afgangstidspunktet ændres.

Danish often uses the present tense for actions that are happening now, happen regularly, or are expected to happen in the near future. So Vi tjekker afgangstavlen can mean:

• We check the departure board
• We are checking the departure board
• We will check the departure board

The exact time comes from the context. Danish can use a more explicit future expression such as vi vil tjekke, but the simple present is very common and natural.

i tilfælde af at means in case or in the event that. It often has the nuance of taking a precaution or preparing for a possibility.

So in this sentence, the idea is:

• we check the board now
• because the departure time might change

hvis just means if and is more neutral. In some situations, both are possible, but i tilfælde af at sounds a bit more deliberate and precautionary.

Because Danish forms compound nouns by writing them together as a single word.

Here you have:

• afgang = departure
• tavle = board
• tidspunkt = point in time / time

So:

• afgangstavle = departure board
• afgangstidspunkt = departure time

This is very normal in Danish. English often writes similar expressions as separate words, but Danish usually joins them into one compound noun.

Because it is the definite singular form: the departure board.

The base form is:

• en afgangstavle = a departure board

The definite form is:

• afgangstavlen = the departure board

The last part of the compound is tavle, which is a common-gender noun. Common-gender nouns often take a definite ending, and when the noun already ends in -e, the written result is often just -n added to the whole word:

• tavle -> tavlen
• afgangstavle -> afgangstavlen

This is also the definite singular form, but the head noun here is tidspunkt, which is a neuter noun.

So:

• et afgangstidspunkt = a departure time
• afgangstidspunktet = the departure time

A useful rule is that in Danish compounds, the last element determines the gender and the definite ending. Since tidspunkt is neuter, the compound takes -et in the definite singular.

ændres is a passive form, specifically the Danish -s passive. It means is changed or gets changed.

Compare:

• afgangstidspunktet ændres = the departure time is changed
• nogen ændrer afgangstidspunktet = someone changes the departure time

In this sentence, the focus is on the possibility of the departure time changing, not on who changes it. That is why the passive is natural here.

Danish could also use bliver ændret, but ændres is shorter and very common in this kind of sentence.

Because after at, Danish uses subordinate-clause word order. The subject usually comes before the finite verb.

So:

• afgangstidspunktet = subject
• ændres = finite verb

This is normal subordinate-clause structure in Danish.

A very useful pattern to remember is:

• Main clause: Vi tjekker afgangstavlen
• Subordinate clause: at afgangstidspunktet ændres

If you add an adverb, it normally comes before the finite verb in a subordinate clause:

• ... at afgangstidspunktet ikke ændres
• ... at afgangstidspunktet måske ændres

It is perfectly normal Danish. The verb at tjekke is a common modern Danish verb meaning to check.

It is a loanword, but it is fully natural in everyday Danish. You will hear and see it often in ordinary contexts like checking a timetable, a screen, a ticket, or a message.

A more formal alternative is kontrollere, but tjekke is usually the most idiomatic everyday choice here.

The comma marks the beginning of the dependent part of the sentence introduced by i tilfælde af at.

So the structure is roughly:

• main clause: Vi tjekker afgangstavlen
• dependent clause: i tilfælde af at afgangstidspunktet ændres

In standard written Danish, a comma before this kind of clause is normal. The comma helps show that the second part explains the condition or circumstance for the first part.