Brandslukkeren står ved brandtæppet.

Because Danish, like German, very often makes compound nouns by joining smaller words together.

• brand = fire
• slukker = extinguisher / something that puts out
• brand-slukker = fire extinguisher

And:

• brand = fire
• tæppe = blanket
• brand-tæppe = fire blanket

This is completely normal in Danish. Where English often writes two words, Danish often uses one compound word.

The ending -en is the definite article attached to the noun. In English, this is usually the.

So:

• en brandslukker = a fire extinguisher
• brandslukkeren = the fire extinguisher

Many Danish nouns with common gender take -en in the definite singular.

So brandslukkeren literally works like fire-extinguisher-the, but in natural English we say the fire extinguisher.

Because brandtæppe is a neuter noun in Danish.

Danish has two grammatical genders:

• common gender → usually takes en
• neuter gender → usually takes et

So:

• et brandtæppe = a fire blanket
• brandtæppet = the fire blanket

Compare:

• en brandslukker → brandslukkeren
• et brandtæppe → brandtæppet

So the different endings tell you the noun gender.

Because in Danish, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it.

So English:

• the fire extinguisher
• the fire blanket

Danish:

• brandslukkeren
• brandtæppet

This is one of the most noticeable differences between English and Danish noun structure.

There are cases where Danish uses a separate definite word such as den or det, but in a simple sentence like this, the ending on the noun is enough.

This is a very common question, because Danish often uses position verbs where English simply uses is.

Here, står means stands, but in Danish it is often used naturally for an object that is in an upright position or placed somewhere in a standing way.

So:

• Brandslukkeren står ved brandtæppet. = The fire extinguisher is/stands by the fire blanket.

A fire extinguisher is often thought of as something upright, so står sounds natural.

English usually just says is, but Danish often prefers:

• står = stands
• ligger = lies
• sidder = sits

depending on how the object is positioned.

Here ved means something like:

• by
• next to
• near
• sometimes at, depending on context

So in this sentence, ved brandtæppet means by the fire blanket or next to the fire blanket.

It tells you location.

A learner should remember that Danish prepositions do not always match English one-for-one, so ved can have slightly different translations depending on context.

Yes, it would be understandable, but står is usually more natural here.

• er ved focuses more generally on location: is by
• står ved sounds more idiomatic for an upright object placed somewhere

So both can make sense, but Danish often sounds more natural with står when talking about where objects like bottles, lamps, chairs, or fire extinguishers are.

The basic word order here is:

• Brandslukkeren = subject
• står = verb
• ved brandtæppet = prepositional phrase of place

So the pattern is:

Subject + verb + place

That is the normal order for a simple main clause in Danish.

You can also move the place phrase for emphasis:

• Ved brandtæppet står brandslukkeren.

But then Danish still keeps the verb in second position, which is a very important rule in main clauses.

The indefinite forms are:

• en brandslukker = a fire extinguisher
• et brandtæppe = a fire blanket

The sentence uses the definite forms:

• brandslukkeren = the fire extinguisher
• brandtæppet = the fire blanket

This is useful to learn as a set:

• en brandslukker → brandslukkeren
• et brandtæppe → brandtæppet

The plural forms are:

• brandslukkere = fire extinguishers
• brandslukkerne = the fire extinguishers
• brandtæpper = fire blankets
• brandtæpperne = the fire blankets

So the full pattern is:

• en brandslukker
• brandslukkeren
• brandslukkere
• brandslukkerne

and

• et brandtæppe
• brandtæppet
• brandtæpper
• brandtæpperne

This is a good way to memorize Danish nouns.

The letter æ is a vowel sound that does not exist exactly the same way in English.

In tæppe, the æ is roughly similar to the vowel in English cat, though not exactly the same.

A rough pronunciation guide might be:

• brandslukkeren ≈ BRAHN-sluk-er-en
• står ≈ something like stor/stohr with a rounded vowel
• ved ≈ vel without the l, or a soft ved
• brandtæppet ≈ BRAHN-tep-et

That is only approximate, but the important thing is noticing:

• æ is a front vowel, somewhat like the a in cat
• å in står is more like the vowel in thought for many learners

If you are learning pronunciation, it helps to hear native audio, because Danish spelling and pronunciation do not always match in an obvious way for English speakers.