Learn Hardcore Danish: Jeg afleverer bogen til min ven i stuen. - I return the book to my friend in the living room.

Recipient: Jeg afleverer bogen til min ven. (I hand the book to my friend.)
On behalf of: Jeg afleverer bogen for min ven. (I hand the book in on my friend’s behalf.)

Can I drop til and say a double-object sentence like “I hand my friend the book”?

Not with aflevere. The natural pattern is object + til + recipient:

Natural: Jeg afleverer bogen til min ven.
Odd/unidiomatic: Jeg afleverer min ven bogen. With give, a double-object is fine: Jeg giver min ven bogen.

Does i stuen describe where the action happens, or which friend (the one in the living room)?

As written, it’s potentially ambiguous; context decides. To force the place reading, front the place:

Place focus: I stuen afleverer jeg bogen til min ven. To say “the friend who is in the living room,” use a relative clause:
Friend focus: … til min ven, som er i stuen.

Can I move i stuen to the front? What happens to word order?

Yes. Danish main clauses are verb-second (V2): the finite verb stays in 2nd position.

Fronted place: I stuen afleverer jeg bogen til min ven. (Order: Place – Verb – Subject – …)

Where do adverbs like ikke (“not”) or kun (“only”) go?

They come after the finite verb (and after the subject).

With a full noun object: Jeg afleverer ikke bogen til min ven i stuen.
With a pronoun object, the pronoun comes before the adverb: Jeg afleverer den ikke til min ven i stuen.
“Only”: Jeg afleverer kun bogen til min ven i stuen.

Why is it bogen and not den bog?

Danish marks definiteness with a suffix: bog → bogen (“the book”). Use den only with an adjective: den røde bog (“the red book”). Without an adjective, den bog usually means “that book,” not “the book.”

Why min ven and not min vennen or vennen min?

With possessives, Danish does not use the suffixed definite ending and does not use post-posed possessives. It’s prenominal only:

Correct: min ven, min gode ven
Incorrect: min vennen, vennen min

Why min and not mit?

Because ven is common gender (an “en”-word): en ven → min ven. Use mit with neuter nouns (an “et”-word): et hus → mit hus.

Could I say i en stue instead of i stuen?

Yes, but it means “in a living room” (unspecified). I stuen refers to a specific/known living room (often the one already understood in the situation).

What’s the nuance of aflevere vs. give or levere?

aflevere: to hand in/return/hand over (often to the person entitled to receive it, or in a formal/expected context).
give: to give (neutral transfer).
levere: to deliver (goods/services). So Jeg afleverer bogen til min ven suggests “I’m handing (back) the book to my friend,” possibly one he lent me.

Can I say Jeg afleverer til min ven bogen?

The neutral order puts the direct object before the til-phrase:

Neutral: Jeg afleverer bogen til min ven.
Marked/stilted: Jeg afleverer til min ven bogen. For emphasis on the recipient, front the PP: Til min ven afleverer jeg bogen (i stuen). With a pronoun object, keep it before the til-phrase: Jeg afleverer den til min ven.

How do I replace min ven with a pronoun?

Use object pronouns after til: til ham / til hende / til dem.

Example: Jeg afleverer bogen til ham.

Can I omit Jeg?

No. Danish generally requires an explicit subject pronoun. You can’t drop jeg the way some languages allow subject omission.

Does stuen ever mean something else? Why not på stuen?

stuen normally means “the living room,” hence i stuen (“in the living room”).
In housing ads, i stuen can also mean “on the ground floor” (short for i stueetagen).
på stuen is used in special contexts like hospital wards (“on the ward/room”). For a living room, stick to i stuen.

What time does afleverer express? Can it refer to the future?

It’s present tense, which in Danish can cover present, near future, and habitual actions. Time adverbials clarify:

Future: Jeg afleverer bogen i morgen.
Habit: Jeg afleverer altid bøgerne til tiden.

Can I say inde i stuen?

Yes. inde i stuen adds an “inside” nuance and is common in speech:

Jeg afleverer bogen til min ven inde i stuen. V2 and other word-order rules remain the same if you front it: Inde i stuen afleverer jeg …