Bowlingkuglen er blå.

In Danish, the definite article the is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of written as a separate word.

• kugle = ball
• kuglen = the ball

Because kugle is a common-gender noun, its singular definite ending is -en. So bowlingkuglen means the bowling ball.

Danish normally writes compound nouns as a single word. So:

• bowling
  • kugle → bowlingkugle

This is very common in Danish. English often uses separate words where Danish prefers one combined noun.

Because Danish often expresses the with a suffix on the noun instead.

So instead of a separate article, you get:

• kuglen = the ball

A separate word like den is used in other patterns, especially when an adjective comes before the noun:

• den blå bowlingkugle = the blue bowling ball

But in Bowlingkuglen er blå, the adjective comes after er, so the noun just keeps its normal definite ending.

Er is the present tense of at være, which means to be.

Here it means is:

• Bowlingkuglen er blå = The bowling ball is blue

Danish uses er for all persons in the present tense:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• han er = he is
• vi er = we are

So it is much simpler than English in that way.

Because this noun is common gender singular, and the basic form of the adjective is used there.

With Danish adjectives, the form can change depending on gender and number. For blå:

• common singular: blå
• neuter singular: blåt
• plural: blå

So:

• Bowlingkuglen er blå = common gender singular
• Huset er blåt = neuter singular, The house is blue
• Bilene er blå = plural, The cars are blue

You usually learn the gender together with the noun. Danish nouns are mainly either:

• common gender
• neuter

A good clue is the definite ending:

• common gender singular definite: -en
• neuter singular definite: -et

Since the sentence has bowlingkuglen, that tells you the head noun kugle is common gender.

This is the normal Danish word order for a simple statement:

subject + verb + complement

So:

• Bowlingkuglen = subject
• er = verb
• blå = adjective/complement

It works very much like English The bowling ball is blue.

No, that would not be correct.

You normally do not use den together with a noun that already has the attached definite ending in this kind of sentence.

Correct:

• Bowlingkuglen er blå

Also correct, but different structure:

• Den blå bowlingkugle er tung = The blue bowling ball is heavy

In that second example, den appears because the adjective blå comes before the noun. That is a different definite pattern.

A useful approximation is blaw, with a long vowel somewhat like the vowel in law.

The letter å in Danish is a rounded vowel, and it does not sound like English a in cat or name.

If you are just starting, saying something close to blaw will usually be understood.

For an indefinite singular noun, you would use en before the noun:

• En bowlingkugle er blå = A bowling ball is blue

For the definite version, you attach the ending:

• Bowlingkuglen er blå = The bowling ball is blue

So the contrast is:

• en bowlingkugle = a bowling ball
• bowlingkuglen = the bowling ball