Synstavlen har små bogstaver.

Yes. Danish normally writes compound nouns as one word.

synstavlen breaks down like this:

• syn = sight, vision
• tavle = board, chart
• synstavle = eye chart
• synstavlen = the eye chart

So it is a compound noun with the definite ending added at the end.

In Danish, the is often attached to the noun as an ending.

So:

• en synstavle = an eye chart
• synstavlen = the eye chart

This is very common in Danish. English uses a separate word, but Danish usually adds definiteness directly to the noun.

The basic noun is en synstavle. Since it already ends in -e, the definite form usually just adds -n:

• en tavle → tavlen
• en synstavle → synstavlen

So the definite ending is not always visibly -en. After many nouns ending in -e, it appears as just -n.

Har is the present tense of have.

Danish uses have not only for people, but also for things, objects, places, and so on. So an inanimate thing can perfectly well have something.

Here, Synstavlen har små bogstaver means that the eye chart has / contains / shows small letters.

A different but also natural way to express a similar idea would be:

Der er små bogstaver på synstavlen
= There are small letters on the eye chart.

The version with har treats the eye chart as the subject that possesses or displays them.

Because bogstaver is plural.

In Danish, lille is used with singular nouns, while små is used with plural nouns:

• et lille bogstav = a small letter
• små bogstaver = small letters

So små agrees with the plural noun bogstaver.

Bogstaver is the plural form of bogstav.

The forms are:

• et bogstav = a letter
• bogstavet = the letter
• bogstaver = letters
• bogstaverne = the letters

There is no article before bogstaver because it is indefinite plural. Danish, like English, often uses no article in that situation:

• små bogstaver = small letters
• de små bogstaver = the small letters

They are different:

• en synstavle → common gender
• et bogstav → neuter

This matters when you learn the singular indefinite forms and adjective agreement:

• en lille synstavle
• et lille bogstav

But in the sentence små bogstaver, the plural form removes that singular gender difference.

Yes, it can.

In Danish, små bogstaver can mean either:

• small letters in physical size, or
• lowercase letters

Context usually makes the meaning clear. In a sentence about an eye chart, the most natural meaning is probably letters that are small in size.

If you want to be extra clear, context or rewording helps.

The sentence follows a very common Danish pattern:

Subject + verb + object

• Synstavlen = subject
• har = verb
• små bogstaver = object

So it is structurally very straightforward.

More generally, Danish main clauses follow the verb-second rule, but in this sentence the subject comes first, so it looks a lot like normal English word order.

A few parts are especially important:

• y in syn does not sound like English y. It is closer to the vowel in French u or German ü.
• å in små is roughly like the vowel in law for many English speakers.
• The ending -er in bogstaver is usually weak and unstressed.

If you are learning pronunciation, the hardest part is probably the vowel in syn. There is no exact English equivalent, so it usually takes practice and listening.

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

Der er små bogstaver på synstavlen.

That means There are small letters on the eye chart.

The difference is mainly in focus:

• Synstavlen har små bogstaver focuses on what the chart has.
• Der er små bogstaver på synstavlen focuses on the existence/location of the letters.

Both are good Danish, but the first sentence is a nice simple example of subject + har + object.