Afstemningen begynder, efter at vi har drøftet fortolkningen.

Because -en is the Danish definite article suffix, attached to the end of the noun.

• afstemning = a vote / voting
• afstemningen = the vote / the voting

Danish usually adds definiteness to the noun itself instead of putting a separate word like the in front.

So Afstemningen begynder means The vote begins.

In Danish, the present tense of most verbs ends in -r.

So:

• at begynde = to begin
• begynder = begins / is beginning

This form is used for all persons:

• jeg begynder = I begin
• du begynder = you begin
• vi begynder = we begin

Unlike English, Danish verbs do not usually change according to the subject.

efter at means after when it introduces a clause with a verb.

Here it introduces the clause:

efter at vi har drøftet fortolkningen
= after we have discussed the interpretation

You will often see:

• efter
  • noun
    
    • efter mødet = after the meeting
• efter at
  • clause
    
    • efter at mødet er slut = after the meeting is over

So in this sentence, at is needed because what follows is a full clause: vi har drøftet fortolkningen.

har drøftet is the present perfect.

It is formed with:

• har = have/has
• drøftet = past participle of drøfte

So:

• at drøfte = to discuss
• drøftede = discussed (simple past)
• har drøftet = have discussed

In this sentence, Danish uses the present perfect because the discussion is completed before the voting begins.

So the sequence is:

1. we have discussed the interpretation
2. the vote begins

This is very natural in Danish after efter at when one event is completed before another.

drøftet is the past participle of at drøfte.

• at drøfte = to discuss, to deliberate
• har drøftet = have discussed

Compared with diskutere, drøfte can sound a bit more formal or thoughtful, like discussing something carefully.

So drøftet fortolkningen suggests a considered discussion of the interpretation.

Because after at, Danish uses normal subordinate clause word order.

The clause is:

• vi = subject
• har = auxiliary verb
• drøftet = past participle
• fortolkningen = object

So:

efter at vi har drøftet fortolkningen

This is different from main clauses, where Danish often uses verb-second word order.

For example:

• Vi har drøftet fortolkningen. = We have discussed the interpretation.
• Nu har vi drøftet fortolkningen. = Now we have discussed the interpretation.

But after a subordinating conjunction like at, the word order stays in the subordinate-clause pattern.

Because Danish punctuation normally places a comma before a subordinate clause.

Here, efter at vi har drøftet fortolkningen is a subordinate clause attached to the main clause:

• Main clause: Afstemningen begynder
• Subordinate clause: efter at vi har drøftet fortolkningen

So the comma is standard Danish spelling and punctuation.

It is the definite singular form of fortolkning.

• fortolkning = interpretation
• fortolkningen = the interpretation

Again, Danish adds the definite article to the end of the noun:

• en fortolkning = an interpretation
• fortolkningen = the interpretation

In this sentence, it refers to a specific interpretation already known from the context.

Yes, in many contexts you could say:

Afstemningen begynder, efter at vi har diskuteret fortolkningen.

That would also mean The vote begins after we have discussed the interpretation.

But there is a slight difference in tone:

• drøfte = often a bit more formal, deliberate, careful
• diskutere = discuss, sometimes more general or conversational

So drøftet is a good choice in formal or procedural language.

Yes, it is perfectly normal.

It is a straightforward formal-style sentence:

• Afstemningen = the vote / the voting
• begynder = begins

In English, we might sometimes say The vote will begin, but Danish often uses the present tense for scheduled or expected future events.

So Afstemningen begynder can sound very natural in contexts like meetings, procedures, and announcements.

It would be:

Efter at vi har drøftet fortolkningen, begynder afstemningen.

This means the same thing.

But notice the word order in the main clause after the fronted subordinate clause:

• Efter at vi har drøftet fortolkningen, begynder afstemningen.

Here begynder comes before afstemningen because Danish main clauses follow the verb-second rule. When the subordinate clause is placed first, it takes the first position, so the verb comes next.

That is a very common pattern in Danish.

They are related, but not the same.

• at stemme = to vote
• en afstemning = a vote, a ballot, a voting process

So:

• Vi stemmer nu. = We are voting now.
• Afstemningen begynder nu. = The vote begins now.

The noun afstemning refers to the event or procedure, while stemme is the verb.

A useful breakdown is:

• Afstemningen = subject
• begynder = main verb
• efter at vi har drøftet fortolkningen = time clause

So the structure is:

[Main clause], [subordinate time clause].

More literally:

The voting begins, after that we have discussed the interpretation.

Natural English would be:

The vote begins after we have discussed the interpretation.

This is a good example of a typical Danish sentence with:

• a definite noun as subject
• a present-tense main verb
• a subordinate clause introduced by efter at
• a present perfect inside that subordinate clause