Learn Hardcore Danish: Hun spørger læreren, hvornår hun skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord i en sætning. - She asks the teacher when she should use the correct possessive pronoun in a sentence.

In Danish, hvornår hun skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord i en sætning is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause) that works as the object of spørger:

Main clause: Hun spørger læreren
Subordinate clause (object): hvornår hun skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord i en sætning

Traditionally, Danish uses a comma before most subordinate clauses (the grammatical comma), so you write:

Hun spørger læreren, hvornår …

In the newer comma system, this comma is technically optional, but it is still very common and absolutely correct. As a learner, it is safest to keep the comma before such clauses.

What is the difference between hvornår and når, and why is hvornår used here?

Both can be translated as “when”, but they are used differently:

hvornår = when? (a question about time)
- Direct question: Hvornår kommer du? – When are you coming?
- Indirect question: Jeg ved ikke, hvornår hun kommer. – I don’t know when she is coming.
når = when/whenever (a conjunction used in time clauses, not a question word)
- Når jeg kommer hjem, spiser jeg. – When I get home, I eat.

In the sentence, she is asking a question about time (even though the question is indirect), so Danish uses hvornår:

Hun spørger læreren, hvornår hun skal bruge …
= She asks the teacher when she should use …

Using når here would be wrong because it would no longer sound like a question about which time she should do something.

Why is it hvornår hun skal bruge and not hvornår skal hun bruge?

Danish changes word order depending on whether the clause is:

a main clause question, or
a subordinate (dependent) clause.
Main clause question (direct question):
- Hvornår skal hun bruge det rigtige ejestedord?
  Here you get inversion: hvornår + skal + hun.
Subordinate clause (indirect question inside a bigger sentence):
- Hun spørger læreren, hvornår hun skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord.
  In a subordinate clause after hvornår, the order is subject before verb:
  hvornår + hun + skal.

Rule of thumb:

In subordinate clauses, the subject comes before the finite verb.
In direct questions, the finite verb often comes before the subject.

Why is it læreren and not just lærer or en lærer?

Danish usually marks “the” by adding a definite ending to the noun:

en lærer – a teacher (indefinite, common gender)
læreren – the teacher (definite)

So:

Hun spørger læreren …
= She asks the teacher … (a specific, known teacher – e.g. her own teacher).

If you said:

Hun spørger en lærer …
= She asks a teacher … (some teacher, not specifically “her” teacher).

Just Hun spørger lærer is ungrammatical; you need either en lærer or læreren.

What exactly does ejestedord mean? Is it the same as “possessive pronoun”?

Yes. Ejestedord is the Danish school-grammar term for possessive pronouns / possessive determiners.

eje = to own
stedord = pronoun (literally “substitute-word”)

So ejestedord = “ownership-pronoun”. It covers words like:

min, mit, mine – my
din, dit, dine – your (singular)
hans, hendes – his, her
vores – our
jeres – your (plural)
deres – their
sin, sit, sine – reflexive “his/her/its/their own”

Danish schoolbooks will usually call all of these ejestedord, whether they come before a noun (min bog) or stand alone (Bogen er min).

Why do we say det rigtige ejestedord and not something like et rigtigt ejestedord or det rigtigt ejestedord?

Break the phrase down:

ejestedord is a neuter noun: et ejestedord – a possessive pronoun
rigtig is the base adjective: right / correct
det rigtige ejestedord = the right / correct possessive pronoun

Danish adjective endings behave like this:

indefinite, neuter: et rigtigt ejestedord – a right possessive pronoun
definite (with den/det/de): det rigtige ejestedord – the right possessive pronoun

So:

You use et rigtigt in the indefinite form.
You use det rigtige in the definite form.

You cannot say det rigtigt ejestedord; after den/det/de, the adjective must have -e: den store bog, det gamle hus, de nye biler, det rigtige ejestedord.

Why is it i en sætning and not i sætningen?

en sætning = a sentence / a clause (indefinite)
sætningen = the sentence (definite)

In the original sentence, the meaning is general:
“…when she should use the correct possessive pronoun in a sentence (in sentences in general).”

Danish often uses singular + an indefinite article for general statements:

Det er vigtigt at bruge stort bogstav i en sætning.
It’s important to use a capital letter in a sentence.

If you said i sætningen, it would usually refer to a specific sentence already known in the context:

I den her tekst er der en fejl i sætningen.
In this text, there is a mistake in the sentence.

What does skal bruge express here, and how is it different from just bruger?

bruge = to use (infinitive)
bruger = use(s) (present tense)
skal = must / should / is supposed to / is going to (modal verb)

In hvornår hun skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord, skal expresses:

obligation, rule, or expected use:
“when she is supposed to use / should use the correct possessive pronoun”.

If you said:

hvornår hun bruger det rigtige ejestedord
= when she uses the correct possessive pronoun

that describes when she actually does it, not when she ought to do it according to the rules.

Also notice:

skal does not change with the subject (jeg/du/han/hun/vi/I/de skal)
The main verb after a modal is in the infinitive: skal bruge, not skal bruger.

Does the second hun refer to the student or to the teacher? How do you know?

The sentence is:

Hun spørger læreren, hvornår hun skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord …

Grammatically, hun in the subordinate clause could refer either to:

the same person as the first Hun (the student), or
the teacher.

Danish pronouns don’t have a built‑in way to disambiguate this here. Usually, you rely on context and on what makes sense:

Most likely reading: the student asks about her own use of possessive pronouns.
If you wanted to emphasise the teacher as the subject, you might say:
- Hun spørger læreren, hvornår læreren skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord.
  (She asks the teacher when the teacher should use …)
  or use names instead of pronouns.

The reflexive system (sin/sit/sine) does not help here because that only marks possessive relationships, not who the subject itself is.

How do you pronounce the tricky words like hvornår, spørger, læreren, ejestedord and sætning?

Very roughly (in IPA and an English‑style approximation):

hun – /hun/
– like “hoon”, but with a short u.
spørger – approximately /ˈsbɶɐ̯ɐ/
- The g is silent.
- sp is like English “sp”.
- The vowel ø is a rounded sound between “er” and “uh”.
- A rough approximation: something like “SPUR-uh”, but with rounded lips.
læreren – approximately /ˈlɛːɐ̯ɐn/
- Long æ (like the vowel in English “lad” but longer),
- then a weak -ren.
- Roughly: “LAIR-uhn”.
hvornår – approximately /vɐˈnɒːˀ/
- The h in hv is silent; it sounds like it starts with v.
- Final -år has an open o and a stød (a creaky/glottal stop).
- Roughly: “vor-NAW” (one stressed syllable at the end).
ejestedord – approximately /ˈɑjəsteðoːˀ/
- eje = /ˈɑjə/, like “EYE-eh”.
- stedord has a soft d (like the th in “this”).
- Roughly: “EYE-eh-stay-thohr”.
sætning – approximately /ˈsɛdn̩eŋ/
- æ like in English “sat”.
- The d is soft and almost disappears.
- Roughly: “SET-ning”, but with a very soft d sound in the middle.

These are approximations; actual Danish pronunciation will sound smoother and more reduced in natural speech.

Do I need om after spørger when reporting a question, like Hun spørger læreren om, hvornår …?

No, not here. You should not say om hvornår.

In Danish:

om before a clause usually means “whether / if” for yes/no questions:
- Hun spørger læreren, om hun skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord.
  = She asks the teacher whether she should use the correct possessive pronoun. (yes/no)
For wh‑questions (with hvornår, hvorfor, hvordan, hvem, hvad etc.), you normally use only the wh‑word, without om:
- Hun spørger læreren, hvornår hun skal bruge det rigtige ejestedord.
  = She asks the teacher when she should use the correct possessive pronoun.

You can also say:

Hun spørger læreren om ejestedord.
= She asks the teacher about possessive pronouns. (here om goes with a noun, not with a hv‑clause)

So in your sentence, om would be wrong before hvornår; the correct form is exactly as given.