Learn Hardcore Danish: Det er typisk, at de ser fodbold i fjernsynet om søndagen. - It is typical that they watch football on the television on Sundays.

Det er + adjective + at-clause
- Det er typisk, at de ser fodbold …
- Det er vigtigt, at du kommer i morgen.
- Det er sjovt, at han siger det.

You cannot say Typisk er, at de… in normal Danish. That sounds ungrammatical or at best very odd and poetic. The sentence Det er typisk, at… is the normal way to express this.

Why do we use at here? Can we drop it: Det er typisk, de ser fodbold…?

Here at introduces a subordinate clause (a that-clause):

Det er typisk, at de ser fodbold …
= “It is typical that they watch football …”

In Danish, after Det er + adjective, an entire clause used as the “thing” being described usually needs at:

Det er godt, at du er her. – It’s good (that) you’re here.
Det er mærkeligt, at han ikke ringer. – It’s strange (that) he doesn’t call.

You can’t normally drop at in this structure.
Det er typisk, de ser fodbold… sounds wrong to a native speaker.

Could I just say De ser typisk fodbold i fjernsynet om søndagen instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that sentence is perfectly correct, but the emphasis changes slightly.

Det er typisk, at de ser fodbold i fjernsynet om søndagen.
Focus: the whole fact is typical. It’s “typical (for them)” that this is what happens on Sundays.
De ser typisk fodbold i fjernsynet om søndagen.
Focus: their habit; we are just saying how they usually spend Sundays.

In practice, both often mean the same in context, but:

Det er typisk, at… = more “evaluating” the behaviour from the outside.
De ser typisk… = more neutral description of a routine.

Why is it om søndagen and not på søndag or just om søndag?

The form om søndagen expresses a repeated, habitual action:

om søndagen = “on Sundays (in general)”
om morgenen = “in the mornings”
om aftenen = “in the evenings”

The -en ending (definite form) here is part of a fixed pattern that often signals a repeated time period.

Compare:

De ser fodbold i fjernsynet om søndagen.
= They watch football on Sundays (as a habit).
De ser fodbold i fjernsynet på søndag.
= They’ll watch football on TV this coming Sunday (one specific day).

Om søndag without -en is not idiomatic here; you need om søndagen for the habitual meaning.

Why do we say i fjernsynet and not på fjernsynet like English “on TV”?

Danish uses different prepositions for media:

i fjernsynet – literally “in the television”, but idiomatically “on TV”
i radioen – “on the radio”
i avisen – “in the newspaper”

So:

De ser fodbold i fjernsynet.
= They watch football on TV.

Using på fjernsynet would normally mean “on top of the TV set” (physically on the device), which is not what you want here.

Just remember the fixed expression: i fjernsynet = “on TV”.

Why is it fjernsynet with -et at the end? Could I say i fjernsyn?

Fjernsyn is a neuter noun:

et fjernsyn – a TV
fjernsynet – the TV

In the expression i fjernsynet, the definite form (fjernsynet) is required. You can’t say i fjernsyn in this sense.

There are two useful patterns to learn:

se fjernsyn – to watch TV (as an activity, without article)
- De kan godt lide at se fjernsyn. – They like watching TV.
i fjernsynet – on TV (as a medium)
- Han er i fjernsynet i aften. – He’s on TV tonight.

Here, because it’s about where they watch the football (on TV), you use i fjernsynet.

Why ser fodbold and not ser på fodbold or kigger på fodbold?

The normal verb for “watch (a film, TV, sports)” in Danish is simply se without på:

se fjernsyn – watch TV
se en film – watch a film
se fodbold – watch football

se på and kigge på tend to mean “look at” (more about visually directing your eyes at something):

se på billedet – look at the picture
kigge på ham – look at him

You can hear se på fodbold or kigge på fodbold, but they sound less neutral and more like literally “looking at football”. For TV/sport as an activity, se fodbold is the standard phrase.

What does typisk mean exactly here? Is it like “typically” or “typical of them”?

In this structure:

Det er typisk, at de ser fodbold…

typisk is an adjective meaning “typical” or “characteristic”. Implicitly it often means “typical of them”, even though for dem is not stated:

Det er typisk, at de kommer for sent.
≈ It’s typical (of them) that they arrive late.

You could make it explicit:

Det er typisk for dem at se fodbold om søndagen.
= It is typical for them to watch football on Sundays.

Both are natural; your sentence just omits for dem because it’s clear from context (we already know who “they” are).

What’s the function of the comma before at? Do I always need a comma there?

The comma marks the beginning of a subordinate clause:

Det er typisk, at de ser fodbold…
Main clause: Det er typisk
Subordinate clause: at de ser fodbold i fjernsynet om søndagen

In modern Danish there are two comma systems:

Traditional/old comma – you must put a comma before most at, som, der, etc. introducing clauses.
New comma – the comma before at in many such cases is optional.

So:

Det er typisk, at de ser fodbold… ✅ (accepted in both systems)
Det er typisk at de ser fodbold… ✅ (accepted in the new system)

Learners are usually safe keeping the comma before at in this kind of sentence.

Why is the verb ser in the present tense? Does it mean “are watching” right now or “(they) usually watch”?

Danish uses the simple present for both:

actions happening now
habitual or repeated actions

Context decides which one is meant. In your sentence, om søndagen (“on Sundays (in general)”) clearly shows it’s a habit:

De ser fodbold i fjernsynet om søndagen.
= They (normally) watch football on TV on Sundays.

If you wanted to stress “right now”, you’d normally add a time expression like lige nu (right now):

De ser fodbold i fjernsynet lige nu.
= They are watching football on TV right now.