Learn Hardcore Danish: Han laver en fejl, men hans ven tilgiver ham. - He makes a mistake, but his friend forgives him.

lave literally means to make / to do, and lave en fejl is a fixed, common collocation.
gøre en fejl is understandable, but it sounds less natural and less idiomatic.
The verb fejle exists, but it is usually used in more technical or abstract contexts (e.g. systemet fejler = the system is failing), not for a person making a mistake in the everyday sense.

So if you want to say He makes a mistake, Han laver en fejl is the default, idiomatic choice.

Why do we say en fejl and not just fejl without an article?

Danish usually uses an article with countable singular nouns, just like English.

fejl is a countable noun (a mistake, an error).
In English you say a mistake, not he makes mistake.
Similarly, in Danish you say en fejl, not han laver fejl, when you mean one unspecific mistake.

You can drop the article in some more abstract, plural-like uses, for example:

Han laver ofte fejl. – He often makes mistakes.

Here fejl is more like a plural/mass concept (mistakes in general), so no en.

What is the difference between han and ham, and why do we have both in one sentence?

Danish, like many languages, has different pronoun forms for subject and object.

han = he (subject form)
ham = him (object form)

In the sentence:

Han laver en fejl
→ Han is the subject (the one doing the action).
hans ven tilgiver ham
→ ham is the object (the one receiving the action of forgiving).

So you use han when it’s the grammatical subject of the verb, and ham when it’s the object of a verb or a preposition.

What is the difference between hans and sin, and why is it hans ven here?

Both hans and sin can mean his, but they’re used differently.

hans = his (someone else’s) or neutral his
sin (reflexive possessive) normally means his own / her own / its own, referring back to the subject of the same clause.

In this exact sentence:

Han laver en fejl, men hans ven tilgiver ham.

The subject of the second clause is hans ven (the friend), not han. The possessive hans is modifying ven, and it refers back to han from the previous clause.

You cannot use sin here:

✗ men sin ven tilgiver ham – ungrammatical in standard Danish

Why? Because sin must refer to the subject of its own clause. In … men hans ven tilgiver ham, the subject is hans ven, not han, so sin would not have a clear, grammatical subject to refer to.

If you changed the word order so that han is still the subject in the second clause, you could use sin:

Han laver en fejl, men han tilgiver sin ven.
He makes a mistake, but he forgives his (own) friend.

Why do laver and tilgiver both end in -er? Do verbs change with the subject in Danish?

Present tense in Danish is very simple: the verb form does not change with the subject.

jeg laver, du laver, han laver, vi laver, I laver, de laver
→ always laver in the present.

Same with tilgive:

infinitive: (at) tilgive
present tense: tilgiver for all persons.

So in the sentence:

Han laver en fejl – laver = present tense of lave
hans ven tilgiver ham – tilgiver = present tense of tilgive

Both use -er as the standard present-tense ending.

Why is the word order hans ven tilgiver ham and not something like hans ven ham tilgiver?

Danish is a V2 language in main clauses: the finite verb (here, tilgiver) must be in the second position.

In the clause hans ven tilgiver ham:

First position: hans ven (subject phrase)
Second position: tilgiver (finite verb)
After that: ham (object)

If you moved ham before tilgiver, you’d break the V2 rule:

✗ hans ven ham tilgiver – wrong in standard Danish word order.

So the correct main-clause structure is:

[Subject] [Verb] [Object/other elements]
hans ven (subject) tilgiver (verb) ham (object)

Is the comma before men required in Danish, and does men work like English but?

Yes, men corresponds directly to English but.

Regarding the comma:

In modern Danish punctuation rules, you normally put a comma before a new main clause, and men often introduces such a clause.
In Han laver en fejl, men hans ven tilgiver ham, the comma is standard and correct because you have two main clauses:
- Han laver en fejl
- (men) hans ven tilgiver ham

You will almost always see a comma before men when it connects two full clauses like this.

How is the verb tilgive used? Why is there no preposition like for before ham?

The basic pattern in Danish is:

at tilgive nogen (noget)
→ to forgive someone (something)

So:

hans ven tilgiver ham
= his friend forgives him

No preposition is needed before ham, just like English forgive him (not forgive to him).

If you want to specify what is forgiven, you usually add a for-phrase afterwards:

Hans ven tilgiver ham for fejlen.
His friend forgives him for the mistake.

Pattern:

tilgive
- object (nogen)
  - optionally for + det, man har gjort

Could I say Han begår en fejl instead of Han laver en fejl?

Yes, Han begår en fejl is also correct and idiomatic.

begå en fejl is a bit more formal or serious in tone, often used in written language, news, legal contexts, etc.
lave en fejl is more neutral and very common in everyday speech.

So:

Han laver en fejl – neutral, everyday
Han begår en fejl – slightly more formal / serious

Both mean He makes a mistake.

How do you pronounce ven and tilgiver?

Approximate pronunciation (in a broad, learner-friendly way):

ven
- IPA: [vɛn]
- Like English “ven” in “vent”, but without the final t. Short e sound.
tilgiver
- In careful speech: [ˈtɛlˌgiːvɐ] or regionally [ˈtilˌgiːvɐ]
- Roughly: “tel-gee-ver”, but:
  - til- often sounds closer to tel- in everyday speech.
  - The final -er is reduced, more like -uh ([ɐ]) than a clear -er.

Danish pronunciation varies by region and is quite reduced in casual speech, but these approximations will usually be understood.