Skibet sejler langs kysten.

• skibet = the ship
• sejler = sails / is sailing
• langs = along
• kysten = the coast

So the sentence structure is very close to English: The ship sails/is sailing along the coast.

Skib means ship in the indefinite form.

• et skib = a ship
• skibet = the ship

In Danish, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix, instead of being a separate word like English the.

Because skib is a neuter noun, its definite ending is -et:

• et skib → skibet

For the same reason: kysten is the definite form, meaning the coast.

• en kyst = a coast
• kysten = the coast

Here, kyst is a common-gender noun, so its definite ending is -en.

Because Danish usually puts the at the end of the noun.

Compare:

• a ship = et skib

• the ship = skibet

• a coast = en kyst
• the coast = kysten

So English uses a separate word, but Danish often uses an attached ending.

Sejler is the present tense of sejle.

• at sejle = to sail
• sejler = sails / is sailing

Danish present tense is very simple: the verb usually takes -r in the present.

It can mean both, depending on context.

So Skibet sejler langs kysten can mean:

• The ship sails along the coast
• The ship is sailing along the coast

Danish often uses the simple present where English might prefer the present progressive.

Langs is a preposition here, meaning along.

So:

• langs kysten = along the coast

It tells you the route or direction something follows.

The basic order is:

subject + verb + adverbial/prepositional phrase

• Skibet = subject
• sejler = verb
• langs kysten = prepositional phrase

So it is a very straightforward main clause.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific ship and a specific coast, or at least presenting them as known in the context.

That is very normal in Danish. If you wanted the indefinite meaning, you would say:

Et skib sejler langs en kyst
= A ship is sailing along a coast

But that sounds much less natural unless you really mean an unspecified ship and an unspecified coast.

You have to learn the gender of each noun.

In this sentence:

• et skib
• en kyst

That matters because it affects:

1. the indefinite article
2. the definite ending

So:

• et skib → skibet
• en kyst → kysten

Unfortunately, noun gender in Danish usually has to be memorized.

No, not in the same way. Modern Danish has very little case marking on nouns.

In this sentence:

• skibet stays skibet
• kysten stays kysten

Their role is mostly shown by word order and prepositions, not by changing the noun endings for subject or object.

A careful approximation is:

SKEE-beth SY-ler langs KUS-ten

A few notes:

• skibet: the d is not pronounced like a strong English d; in normal speech it becomes a soft sound.
• sejler sounds roughly like SY-ler.
• kysten begins with a rounded vowel that English does not have exactly.

If you want a rough learner-friendly version, say:

Skee-beth sy-ler langs küs-ten

It will not be perfect, but it is a useful start.

Almost:

• Skibet = the ship
• sejler = sails / is sailing
• langs = along
• kysten = the coast

So yes, this sentence maps quite neatly onto English. The main difference is just that Danish puts the onto the noun as an ending: skibet, kysten.