Transittiden er kort.

Because Danish normally writes compound nouns as one word.

So transittiden = transit + tiden.

This is very common in Danish:

• togstation = train station
• arbejdstid = working time
• transittid = transit time

Then transittiden means the transit time.

The -en is the definite article attached to the noun. In English, you usually put the before the noun. In Danish, the definite article is often added to the end instead.

So:

• en transittid = a transit time
• transittiden = the transit time

The main noun here is tid (time), and its definite singular form is tiden (the time). When it is part of the compound, you get transittiden.

Er is the present tense of at være (to be).

So:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• den er = it is

In Transittiden er kort, er simply means is.

Kort is the adjective meaning short, and here it is used predicatively—that means it comes after er and describes the subject.

In this sentence:

• Transittiden = the subject
• er = is
• kort = short

So the structure is the same as in English: The transit time is short.

Also, kort happens to look the same in both common-gender singular and neuter singular, so there is no extra ending here.

Compare:

• Tiden er kort = The time is short
• Brevet er kort = The letter is short

But in plural/definite adjective forms, you often see -e:

• De er korte = They are short

Danish often uses a suffix article instead of a separate word.

So instead of:

• the time

Danish usually says:

• tiden

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice.

Very roughly:

• en tid = a time
• tiden = the time

With compounds, the same thing happens:

• en transittid = a transit time
• transittiden = the transit time

The dictionary form is transittid.

That is the indefinite singular form, the form you would usually look up in a dictionary.

Its forms are:

• en transittid = a transit time
• transittiden = the transit time
• transittider = transit times
• transittiderne = the transit times

In this sentence, it is basically like English.

• Transittiden = subject
• er = verb
• kort = adjective/complement

So:

• Transittiden er kort
• The transit time is short

This is a very straightforward Danish main clause.

The only thing to remember is that Danish is a V2 language, so in many main clauses the verb must come in the second position. But in this simple sentence, the word order looks very familiar to an English speaker.

For the transit time is short, you say:

• Transittiden er kort.

For a transit time is short, you would use:

• En transittid er kort.

Grammatically that is fine, but in real usage it may sound a bit unusual or too general depending on context. Often Danish, like English, would prefer a more natural context-specific sentence.

The important contrast is:

• en transittid = a transit time
• transittiden = the transit time

In standard Danish, the d in tiden is usually a soft d, not a hard English d sound.

So it is not pronounced like a clear dee. It is softer, somewhat similar to a very light th sound in position, though not exactly the same as English th.

That means learners often hear:

• ti-den with a very soft middle consonant

Also, in natural speech, the ending -en can be reduced, so the whole word may sound more compressed than its spelling suggests.

No. In normal Danish spelling, it should be written as one compound noun:

• transittiden

Writing transit tiden would look wrong in standard Danish.

A good general rule is: if English uses two nouns together, Danish will very often combine them into one word.

The plural would be:

• Transittiderne er korte. = The transit times are short.

Here you can see two changes:

• transittiden → transittiderne
• kort → korte

So:

• singular: Transittiden er kort.
• plural: Transittiderne er korte.

This is useful because it shows that adjectives in Danish often change form in the plural.

In this sentence, kort is definitely an adjective meaning short.

But as a separate noun, et kort can also mean a card or a map, depending on context.

So Danish has:

• kort = short (adjective)
• et kort = a card / a map (noun)

In Transittiden er kort, it is the adjective short.