Hver gang vi tjekker røgalarmen, lyder advarselssignalet.

Hver gang means every time or whenever.

So Hver gang vi tjekker røgalarmen means Every time we check the smoke alarm.

A useful point is that hver gang introduces a repeated situation, not a one-time event.

• hver = each / every
• gang = time / occasion

Together, they work like every time in English.

Because Danish often uses the present tense for things that happen regularly or habitually.

This sentence describes a general pattern:

• Every time we check the smoke alarm, the warning signal sounds.

It is not necessarily happening right now only once. It is something that normally happens whenever the check is done.

So:

• vi tjekker = we check
• lyder = sounds

This is very natural in both Danish and English for repeated actions.

This is because Danish main clauses normally follow the V2 rule: the finite verb comes in the second position.

The first position in this sentence is taken by the whole opening clause:

• Hver gang vi tjekker røgalarmen

After that, the main clause begins, and the finite verb must come next:

• lyder advarselssignalet

So the structure is:

1. fronted clause: Hver gang vi tjekker røgalarmen
2. finite verb: lyder
3. subject: advarselssignalet

This is a very common Danish pattern.

Compare:

• Advarselssignalet lyder.
• Hver gang vi tjekker røgalarmen, lyder advarselssignalet.

Both are correct, but once the subordinate clause comes first, the verb moves before the subject in the main clause.

Yes. It functions as a subordinate clause introducing the condition or circumstance under which the main clause happens.

You can divide the sentence like this:

• Hver gang vi tjekker røgalarmen = subordinate clause
• lyder advarselssignalet = main clause

The subordinate clause tells us when the main action happens.

The comma separates the introductory subordinate clause from the main clause.

So:

• Hver gang vi tjekker røgalarmen, lyder advarselssignalet.

This helps show the structure clearly:

• first the every time/whenever clause
• then the main statement

For a learner, it is useful to think of the comma as marking the boundary between the two clauses.

Because Danish forms compound nouns very freely, much more than English usually does in writing.

So:

• røg = smoke
• alarm = alarm
• røgalarm = smoke alarm

Then the definite ending is added:

• røgalarmen = the smoke alarm

English often writes these kinds of ideas as separate words, but Danish usually prefers one combined noun.

Because Danish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word in front.

So:

• en røgalarm = a smoke alarm
• røgalarmen = the smoke alarm

This noun is a common gender noun, so its definite singular ending is -en.

That is why you see røgalarmen, not a separate word for the.

Because advarselssignal is a neuter noun.

In Danish:

• common gender singular definite usually ends in -en
• neuter singular definite usually ends in -et

So:

• et advarselssignal = a warning signal
• advarselssignalet = the warning signal

That is why the sentence has:

• lyder advarselssignalet

and not advarselssignalen.

Again, this is Danish compounding.

The word is made up of:

• advarsel = warning
• signal = signal

Together:

• advarselssignal = warning signal

Then the definite ending is added:

• advarselssignalet = the warning signal

You may also notice the extra s in the middle:

• advarsel + signal → advarselssignal

This linking s is very common in Danish compounds.

Here lyder means sounds or goes off.

The base verb is lyde.

In many contexts, lyde can mean:

• to sound
• to make a sound
• to sound like

In this sentence, it means that the warning signal is heard when the alarm is checked.

So lyder advarselssignalet is something like:

• the warning signal sounds
• the warning signal goes off

depending on the context.

Yes, it is a normal Danish verb, borrowed from English check.

The infinitive is at tjekke = to check.

Its present tense is:

• tjekker = check / checks

So:

• vi tjekker = we check

Danish uses many borrowed words, and tjekke is very common in everyday language.

Because in Danish, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as an ending.

So instead of saying a separate word like English the smoke alarm, Danish says:

• røgalarmen

And instead of the warning signal, Danish says:

• advarselssignalet

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English.

Sometimes, yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Hver gang = every time / whenever, with a strong sense of repetition
• Når = when, which can also be used for repeated situations, but is often a bit broader

So in this sentence, hver gang is very precise because it emphasizes that the warning signal sounds on each occasion when the alarm is checked.

A version with når might also be understandable, but hver gang is especially good for repeated, predictable events.

A good breakdown is:

• Hver gang = every time
• vi = we
• tjekker = check
• røgalarmen = the smoke alarm
• lyder = sounds / goes off
• advarselssignalet = the warning signal

So the structure is:

• Every time we check the smoke alarm, the warning signal sounds.

This kind of word-by-word breakdown is especially useful in Danish because of:

• compound nouns
• attached definite endings
• verb-second word order

The dictionary forms are:

• at tjekke = to check
• en røgalarm = a smoke alarm
• et advarselssignal = a warning signal
• at lyde = to sound

And the forms used in the sentence are:

• tjekker = present tense of at tjekke
• røgalarmen = definite singular of en røgalarm
• advarselssignalet = definite singular of et advarselssignal
• lyder = present tense of at lyde

This is often the easiest way to connect the sentence form to what you would find in a dictionary.

A few things may be tricky for English speakers:

• rø in røgalarmen has the Danish ø sound, which does not exist in standard English.
• lyder also contains a Danish vowel sound that may be unfamiliar.
• long compound words like advarselssignalet can be hard to hear at first because Danish often reduces unstressed syllables.

A practical strategy is to learn the sentence in chunks:

• Hver gang
• vi tjekker røgalarmen
• lyder advarselssignalet

That usually makes pronunciation and listening much easier than trying to process the whole sentence at once.