Jeg fik en bog i fødselsdagsgave.

Fik is the past tense of få, which means to get, to receive, or sometimes to have in certain expressions.

So:

• få = infinitive
• får = present tense
• fik = past tense
• har fået = perfect tense

In this sentence, fik is used because the speaker is talking about something that happened in the past.

Examples:

• Jeg får en bog. = I am getting / get a book.
• Jeg fik en bog. = I got a book.
• Jeg har fået en bog. = I have gotten / received a book.

Danish nouns have grammatical gender, and bog is a common gender noun, so it takes en.

• en bog
• not et bog

This is something you usually have to learn with the noun. In Danish, it is best to memorize nouns together with their article:

• en bog
• et hus
• en bil

That also helps later when you make the definite form:

• en bog → bogen
• et hus → huset

This expression means something like as a birthday present or for a birthday present.

Grammatically, i is the preposition, and fødselsdagsgave is the noun. Together, i gave and similar phrases are fixed idiomatic patterns in Danish.

So i fødselsdagsgave is not literally about being physically in a gift. It is an idiomatic way to say that something was received as a gift for a birthday.

You will see similar patterns such as:

• få noget i gave = receive something as a gift
• få noget i julegave = receive something as a Christmas present
• få noget i bryllupsgave = receive something as a wedding gift

Because in this kind of expression, Danish often leaves out the article after i.

So Danish says:

• i fødselsdagsgave
• i julegave
• i bryllupsgave

not normally:

• i en fødselsdagsgave

This is just how the idiom works. English often uses a in similar translations, but Danish does not need it here.

So the structure is natural and fixed:

• få en bog i fødselsdagsgave
• få penge i julegave

Yes. Danish, like German, very often forms compound nouns by writing them as one word.

So:

• fødselsdag = birthday
• gave = gift / present
• fødselsdagsgave = birthday present

This is completely normal in Danish. English often writes similar ideas as separate words, but Danish usually combines them.

Other examples:

• julegave = Christmas present
• fødselsdagskort = birthday card
• sommerferiehus = summer vacation house

A useful rule: if English has a noun + noun combination, Danish often writes it as one word.

That s is a linking s, which often appears in Danish compound nouns.

Here the compound is built from:

• fødselsdag
  • gave
• which becomes fødselsdagsgave

This s does not always have a separate meaning. It mainly helps connect the parts of the compound in a natural way.

You will see this in many Danish compounds, for example:

• arbejdsdag = workday
• barndomshjem = childhood home
• livsglæde = joy of life

Unfortunately, there is no single simple rule that always tells you when the linking s appears, so it is best to learn common compounds as complete words.

Yes, som fødselsdagsgave is also possible, and it means as a birthday present.

Compare:

• Jeg fik en bog i fødselsdagsgave.
• Jeg fik en bog som fødselsdagsgave.

Both are understandable and correct. However, i fødselsdagsgave is very common and idiomatic in everyday Danish.

A small difference in feel:

• i fødselsdagsgave sounds like a fixed expression
• som fødselsdagsgave sounds a little more explicit: as a birthday present

So if you want the most natural everyday phrasing, i fødselsdagsgave is an excellent choice.

Yes, but it is not exactly the same structure.

• Jeg fik en bog i fødselsdagsgave. = I received a book as a birthday present.
• Jeg fik en bog til min fødselsdag. = I got a book for my birthday.

Both are natural. The difference is mainly in focus:

• i fødselsdagsgave emphasizes that it was a gift
• til min fødselsdag emphasizes the occasion

In many everyday situations, both would work fine.

This is the normal word order for a simple main clause in Danish:

• subject
  • verb
    • other elements

So:

• Jeg = subject
• fik = verb
• en bog = object
• i fødselsdagsgave = adverbial phrase

Danish main clauses usually put the finite verb in the second position, often called the V2 rule. In this sentence, the subject comes first, so the verb comes right after it.

If another element comes first, the verb still stays in second position:

• I fødselsdagsgave fik jeg en bog.

That sounds more marked or literary, but it is grammatically possible. The everyday neutral order is:

• Jeg fik en bog i fødselsdagsgave.

Yes, it is a long word and can be hard at first.

A rough breakdown is:

• fødsels-dags-gave

Some pronunciation tips:

• fø has a vowel sound that does not exist exactly in English
• d in Danish is often softer than English d
• the word may sound more compressed in natural speech than its spelling suggests

A learner-friendly rough approximation might be something like:

• FURT-sels-dahs-gay-vuh

But that is only approximate and not exact Danish pronunciation.

The most important thing is to notice the parts:

• fødsels
• dags
• gave

If you practice the whole sentence slowly first, it becomes easier:

• Jeg fik en bog i fødselsdagsgave.

Then speed it up gradually.

Yes. The noun bog by itself means book, while en bog means a book.

This is just like English:

• book = general noun
• a book = indefinite singular

In Danish:

• bog = book
• en bog = a book
• bogen = the book
• bøger = books
• bøgerne = the books

So in the sentence, en bog is the indefinite singular form.