Learn Hardcore Danish: Flyet lander sent i lufthavnen, fordi toget var forsinket. - The plane lands late at the airport because the train was delayed.

Danish doesn’t always match English tenses one‑to‑one. You’ll often see the present tense in Danish where English would naturally use the past.

Flyet lander sent i lufthavnen, fordi toget var forsinket.
literally: The plane lands late in the airport, because the train was delayed.

This kind of Danish present is similar to:

A “live” commentary:
Så kommer han… nu skyder han… bolden går i mål!
(Here he comes… now he shoots… the ball goes in the goal!)
Or a very vivid narration of a past event, where Danish keeps the present in the main clause but may still use the past in the reason clause.

You could also say:

Flyet landede sent i lufthavnen, fordi toget var forsinket.
(both clauses in past; this is completely normal Danish)

So:

lander (present) gives a more “immediate” or neutral statement about something (maybe still true in general or on a schedule).
landede (past) places the event clearly in the past.

Both are grammatically correct; the choice depends on style and context.

Why is it flyet and not just fly? What does the -et ending mean?

Danish normally attaches the definite article to the end of the noun, instead of using a separate word like the in English.

fly = a plane / plane (indefinite, general)
flyet = the plane (definite, a specific one)

Similarly:

lufthavn = an airport
lufthavnen = the airport

So in the sentence:

Flyet lander sent i lufthavnen…
you literally have: The‑plane lands late in the‑airport…

What is the difference between sent and sen?

They are related but used differently:

sen = late as an adjective (describing a noun):
- et sent tog = a late train
- en sen middag = a late dinner
sent = late as an adverb (describing the verb / when something happens):
- Toget kom sent. = The train came late.
- Flyet lander sent. = The plane lands late.

In the sentence:

Flyet lander sent i lufthavnen…
sent tells you when the plane lands (it lands late), so it has to be the adverb form.

Why is it i lufthavnen and not på lufthavnen?

Prepositions in Danish can be tricky because they don’t always line up with English.

For places like airports, stations, buildings, rooms, Danish generally uses i (in):

i lufthavnen = at the airport / in the airport
i skolen = at school / in the school
i banken = at the bank
i kirken = at church / in church

på is used with other types of places (islands, open areas, some institutions, etc.):

på arbejde = at work
på hospitalet = at the hospital
på universitetet = at university
på gaden = in the street

So i lufthavnen is the normal, idiomatic choice for at the airport.

Why is it fordi toget var forsinket and not fordi var toget forsinket?

In Danish:

Main clauses usually have verb in 2nd position (V2).
Subordinate clauses (introduced by words like fordi, at, når, hvis) do not use V2; the order is subject – verb.

Compare:

Main clause (V2):
- Toget var forsinket.
  Subject = Toget, Verb = var (in 2nd position)
Subordinate clause (no V2) after fordi:
- fordi toget var forsinket
  Here, fordi occupies the first “slot”, and the order after that is:
  - subject: toget
  - verb: var
  - complement: forsinket

Putting the verb second after fordi like fordi var toget forsinket is wrong word order in Danish subordinate clauses.

What’s the difference between fordi and da? Could I say da toget var forsinket instead?

Both fordi and da can relate events, but they are not always interchangeable.

fordi = because, focuses on the reason:
- Flyet lander sent, fordi toget var forsinket.
  The important thing: the train being delayed is the reason.
da with a verb in the past = when (at the time when):
- Da toget var forsinket, landede flyet sent.
  When the train was delayed, the plane landed late.

Sometimes da can imply some causal relationship, but its core meaning here is temporal: it pinpoints when.

So in your original sentence, if you want a clear causal “because”, fordi is the natural choice.
Using da instead would shift the nuance more towards “at the time when the train was delayed”, not a straightforward “because”.

Why is it var forsinket and not just var sen or blev forsinket?

All three exist, but they don’t mean exactly the same:

var forsinket
- Literally was delayed, but often best translated as was late.
- Emphasis: the state of already being delayed.
- Toget var forsinket. = The train was delayed / was running late.
var sen
- Literally was late, with sen as an adjective.
- Possible, but less idiomatic for trains/buses; forsinket is much more standard.
- Han var sen. (He was late.) sounds fine for a person; Toget var sen sounds off.
blev forsinket
- blev = became / got, so this focuses on the change: at some point, it became delayed.
- Toget blev forsinket på grund af sne.
  = The train got delayed because of snow.

In your sentence, var forsinket simply states the train’s situation (it was delayed), which then explains the late landing.

Why is the adverb sent placed before i lufthavnen? Could you say Flyet lander i lufthavnen sent?

Danish has a general rule “time before place” in the middle of the sentence:

(subject) – (verb) – time – place

In your sentence:

Flyet (subject)
lander (verb)
sent (time adverb: when)
i lufthavnen (place: where)

So Flyet lander sent i lufthavnen follows the normal pattern.

You can sometimes move adverbs around for emphasis, but:

Flyet lander i lufthavnen sent sounds unusual and potentially confusing.
It breaks the typical time–place order and doesn’t sound natural in standard neutral Danish.

So the original order is the one you should learn as the default pattern.

Is i lufthavnen even necessary? Isn’t it obvious that a plane lands at an airport?

Grammatically, i lufthavnen is optional here:

Flyet lander sent, fordi toget var forsinket.
is a perfectly good sentence.

Adding i lufthavnen:

may specify which airport, if the context makes that relevant (e.g. there are several airports in the area)
can be part of a bigger context (maybe you previously mentioned the airport)
or simply elaborates the scene.

Danish often leaves out information that is obvious from context, so whether you include i lufthavnen is a matter of style and clarity, not a grammar requirement.

What is the difference between tog, toget, and togene?

They’re different forms of the same noun:

tog
- a train / train (indefinite singular)
- also trains (indefinite plural; context decides)
toget
- the train (definite singular)
- formed by adding -et to tog
togene
- the trains (definite plural)
- plural tog
  - -ene definite ending

In your sentence:

toget var forsinket = the train was delayed
referring to one specific train that you and the listener both know about.