Vi slukker ilden med vand.

Slukke is the infinitive, the basic dictionary form, like to put out / to extinguish / to turn off.

In this sentence, the verb is finite and in the present tense, so Danish uses slukker.

• at slukke = to extinguish / to turn off
• jeg slukker = I extinguish / I am extinguishing
• vi slukker = we extinguish / we are extinguishing

A useful pattern:

• infinitive: often ends in -e
• present tense: often adds -r

So:

• slukke → slukker

Also, Danish verbs do not change for person the way English does a little. So jeg slukker, du slukker, vi slukker, de slukker all use the same present-tense form.

It can mean several closely related things. The core idea is to make something stop burning, shining, or operating.

For example:

• slukke ilden = extinguish the fire
• slukke lyset = turn off the light
• slukke fjernsynet = turn off the TV

So in Danish, the same verb is used where English may use put out for a fire and turn off for an electrical device.

Because ilden means the fire, while ild means fire more generally.

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific fire, so Danish uses the definite form:

• ild = fire
• ilden = the fire

This is very common in Danish: the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it.

Because ild is a common-gender noun in Danish.

Its forms are:

• en ild = a fire
• ilden = the fire

In Danish, the definite singular ending depends on the noun’s gender:

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

So:

• en ild → ilden
• but a neuter noun would normally do something like et hus → huset

Because Danish usually expresses the by adding an ending to the noun.

So instead of a separate article as in English:

• English: the fire
• Danish: ilden

This is called the postposed definite article.

A separate definite word like den is often used when there is an adjective:

• ilden = the fire
• den store ild = the big fire

So in your sentence, ilden already contains the idea of the.

Med means with.

In this sentence, it shows the means or instrument used to do the action:

• med vand = with water

So med answers the question how? or by means of what?

Other examples:

• Jeg skriver med en blyant. = I write with a pencil.
• Han åbner døren med en nøgle. = He opens the door with a key.

Here vand is being used as a mass noun, like water in English.

When Danish talks about a substance in a general sense, it often uses the noun without an article:

• med vand = with water
• af guld = of gold
• med sukker = with sugar

If you said vandet, that would mean the water, referring to specific water already known from the context.

If you said et vand, that would usually not fit here. Although vand is grammatically a neuter noun, the indefinite singular form is not normally used in this kind of general substance meaning.

In this sentence, yes, it is very similar to English:

• Vi = subject
• slukker = verb
• ilden = object
• med vand = prepositional phrase

So the pattern is:

Subject + verb + object + extra information

However, Danish has an important rule in main clauses: the finite verb is usually in second position.

That means you can move another part to the front, but then the verb must still come second:

• Vi slukker ilden med vand.
• Med vand slukker vi ilden.

The second version is grammatical, but it gives extra emphasis to med vand.

You would not normally say:

• Med vand vi slukker ilden. ❌

because that breaks the Danish verb-second pattern.

It is present tense.

But just like English present forms, it can cover more than one idea depending on context:

• a general fact or habit: We put out the fire with water
• something happening now: We are putting out the fire with water
• sometimes even near future, depending on context

Danish often uses the plain present tense where English prefers the progressive.

If you really want to emphasize that something is happening right now, Danish can also use a construction like:

• Vi er ved at slukke ilden med vand. = We are in the process of putting out the fire with water.

Yes. The definite form ilden normally refers to a fire that is specific or already identifiable from the context.

So it is like saying:

• the fire we are dealing with
• that fire
• the fire already mentioned or visible

If you wanted a more indefinite idea, you would use a different form, for example:

• en ild = a fire

So the sentence suggests that the speakers know which fire is meant.

Yes. It is simple, clear, and natural.

It sounds like normal standard Danish and could be used in:

• a factual explanation
• a textbook example
• instructions
• a description of what people are doing

It is also a good example sentence because it shows several important Danish patterns at once:

• vi = subject pronoun
• slukker = present tense verb
• ilden = definite noun with the article attached
• med vand = prepositional phrase showing means

So even though it is short, it contains a lot of useful grammar.