Øllen er kold.

Because øllen is the definite form: the beer.

• øl = beer
• øllen = the beer

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

A useful nuance:

• øllen often refers to a specific beer as a drink, such as a bottle, glass, or can.
• øl can also mean beer in a more general sense.

So Øllen er kold means that a specific beer is cold.

In Danish, the is very often built into the noun itself.

So instead of:

• English: the beer

you often get:

• Danish: øllen

The ending shows definiteness:

• many common-gender nouns take -en
• many neuter nouns take -et

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

Er means is / are / am.

It is the present tense of at være = to be.

Examples:

• Jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• øllen er = the beer is

Unlike English, Danish does not change this verb in the present tense depending on the subject. It stays er for all persons.

Because adjectives in Danish often agree with the noun.

Here, kold is the form that matches a singular common-gender noun like øllen.

Compare:

• en kold øl = a cold beer
• et koldt hus = a cold house
• kolde øl = cold beers

So in Øllen er kold, kold matches øllen.

The hardest part is ø.

There is no exact English equivalent, but it is similar to:

• German ö
• the vowel in French peu or deux

Roughly:

• øl-len

A few pronunciation notes:

• ø is a rounded front vowel
• ll is a normal l sound
• the -en ending is often pronounced lightly

So øllen is roughly two syllables.

It is not pronounced like English cold.

A few important points:

• the o is different from English o
• the final d in Danish is often very soft, and after l it may be barely heard

So kold may sound a bit closer to koll to English ears, though that is only an approximation.

Yes, in this simple statement it is very similar to English:

• Øllen = subject
• er = verb
• kold = adjective/complement

So the structure is:

Subject + verb + adjective

Just like:

• English: The beer is cold
• Danish: Øllen er kold

You switch the verb and the subject:

• Øllen er kold. = The beer is cold.
• Er øllen kold? = Is the beer cold?

This is very common in Danish yes/no questions.

That would be:

den kolde øl

This is different from Øllen er kold.

Compare:

• Øllen er kold = The beer is cold
  
  • adjective comes after the verb
• den kolde øl = the cold beer
  
  • adjective comes before the noun

This is an important pattern in Danish:

• when the adjective is before a definite noun, you usually use den/det/de plus the adjective ending

So:

• en kold øl = a cold beer
• den kolde øl = the cold beer

Yes, but it has a slightly different feel.

• Øllen er kold often refers to a specific beer as a drink
• Øllet er koldt can sound more like the beer as a substance or beverage

So both can be possible, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

For a learner, Øllen er kold is a very natural sentence for talking about a particular beer in front of you.