Advokaten læser elaftalen.

Because Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

• en advokat = a lawyer
• advokaten = the lawyer

So -en here means the. This is very common in Danish with singular common gender nouns.

In Danish, the definite article is often a suffix, not a separate word.

So instead of saying something like the lawyer, Danish often says:

• advokaten = the lawyer
• elaftalen = the electricity contract / the electricity agreement

English uses a separate word (the), but Danish usually attaches it to the noun.

Læser is the present tense of at læse (to read).

Examples:

• jeg læser = I read / I am reading
• du læser = you read / you are reading
• advokaten læser = the lawyer reads / the lawyer is reading

Danish verbs do not change for person the way English verbs sometimes do. The form læser stays the same with most subjects in the present tense.

Yes. Danish present tense often covers both ideas.

So Advokaten læser elaftalen can mean:

• The lawyer reads the electricity contract
• The lawyer is reading the electricity contract

The exact meaning depends on context. Danish does not require a separate progressive form like English is reading.

It is a compound noun:

• el = electricity / electric
• aftale = agreement / contract
• elaftale = electricity agreement / electricity contract
• elaftalen = the electricity agreement / the electricity contract

Danish forms compounds very freely, much like English does in words like school bus or credit card, though Danish often writes them as one word.

Because Danish normally writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• elaftale is correct
• el aftale would usually be considered incorrect in standard Danish for this meaning

This is an important habit in Danish: if two nouns belong together as one concept, they are often written as a single word.

The order is:

• Advokaten = subject
• læser = verb
• elaftalen = object

So it follows a basic Subject–Verb–Object pattern:

Advokaten læser elaftalen.
= The lawyer reads the electricity contract.

That said, Danish is also a V2 language, which means in main clauses the finite verb usually comes in the second position. In this simple sentence, that gives the same order as English.

Both nouns here are common gender nouns.

• en advokat → advokaten
• en elaftale → elaftalen

In Danish, singular nouns are mainly either:

• common gender: usually with en
• neuter gender: usually with et

Since both nouns take en in the indefinite form, their definite singular form ends in -en.

In Danish compounds, the last part usually determines the grammatical gender and the basic meaning.

Here:

• el modifies the noun
• aftale is the main noun

So because aftale is a common gender noun (en aftale), the whole compound is also common gender:

• en elaftale
• elaftalen

This is a very useful rule for Danish compound nouns.

A rough guide:

• læser sounds approximately like LEH-ser, but with the Danish æ vowel, which is not exactly the same as English e
• elaftalen is roughly ehl-af-ta-len

A few pronunciation notes:

• æ in læser is a front vowel that many English speakers need practice with
• the r in Danish is usually softer than in many English accents
• unstressed endings like -en are often pronounced lightly

If you are learning pronunciation, it is especially helpful to listen to native audio, because Danish spelling and pronunciation do not always match in an obvious way.

Not exactly in every context, but it can be translated that way depending on situation.

Aftale often means:

• agreement
• arrangement
• sometimes contract

In elaftale, it often refers to a formal agreement with an electricity provider, so electricity contract is a very natural English translation.

Very often, yes, but not always in exactly the same way.

For singular nouns:

• common gender often takes -en
• neuter often takes -et

Examples:

• en bil → bilen (the car)
• et hus → huset (the house)

However, if there is an adjective before the noun, Danish often uses a separate definite word too:

• bilen = the car
• den røde bil = the red car

So the definite system is a little more complex than just adding -en or -et, but this sentence shows the basic pattern very clearly.