Vi marinerer bøffen og griller grillpølsen.

In Danish, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front.

• en bøf = a steak
• bøffen = the steak
• en grillpølse = a grill sausage
• grillpølsen = the grill sausage

So the ending -en is doing the job of English the here.

They are both in the present tense.

• at marinere = to marinate
• marinerer = marinate / is marinating
• at grille = to grill
• griller = grill / is grilling

In Danish, the present tense often ends in -er, and the verb form does not change for different persons:

• jeg marinerer
• du marinerer
• vi marinerer

That is much simpler than English, where you have forms like I grill but he grills.

It can mean either one, depending on context.

Danish present tense often covers both:

• simple present: We marinate the steak and grill the sausage
• present continuous: We are marinating the steak and grilling the sausage

If the meaning has already been shown to the learner, context will tell you which English version fits best.

Because the same subject, vi = we, applies to both verbs.

So:

• Vi marinerer bøffen og griller grillpølsen

means:

• We marinate the steak and grill the sausage

English does the same thing very often:

• We cook and eat
• not necessarily We cook and we eat

You could repeat vi, but it is usually unnecessary here.

Because Danish normally writes compound nouns as one word.

• grill
  • pølse = grillpølse

This is very common in Danish, and much more common than in English. English may write similar expressions as two words, a hyphenated form, or one word, but Danish strongly prefers one-word compounds.

When the compound becomes definite, the ending is added to the whole word:

• en grillpølse
• grillpølsen

The letter ø is one of the vowels that English speakers usually need time to learn.

A rough guide:

• it has no exact English equivalent
• it is somewhat like the vowel in British English bird, but with rounded lips
• you should keep your tongue fairly forward and round your lips at the same time

So:

• bøffen
• grillpølsen

both contain that ø sound.

The best way to learn it is by listening and repeating, because written explanations can only get you so far.

This is a spelling pattern in Danish.

The basic noun is:

• en bøf

When the definite ending is added, it becomes:

• bøffen

The extra f helps show that the vowel stays short. Danish often doubles a final consonant in this kind of situation when an ending is added.

So this is not a different word; it is just the normal definite form of bøf.

Og means and.

It connects the two actions:

• marinerer bøffen
• griller grillpølsen

So the sentence has one subject, vi, and two coordinated verbs:

• Vi marinerer ... og griller ...

This structure is very similar to English.

The word order here is very straightforward:

• Vi = subject
• marinerer = verb
• bøffen = object
• og = and
• griller = second verb
• grillpølsen = second object

So the pattern is basically:

subject + verb + object + and + verb + object

That is one reason this sentence feels quite familiar to an English speaker.

The indefinite forms are:

• en bøf = a steak
• en grillpølse = a grill sausage

In the sentence, both nouns are definite:

• bøffen = the steak
• grillpølsen = the grill sausage

Both nouns are common gender nouns, which is why the singular indefinite article is en and the definite ending is -en.

Yes. It is a fairly transparent compound:

• grill = grill
• pølse = sausage

So grillpølse is literally a grill sausage, meaning a sausage intended for grilling or commonly associated with grilling.

This kind of literal compound-building is very typical in Danish.