Learn Hardcore Danish: Klokken er otte om morgenen, og jeg skal i skole. - The time is eight in the morning, and I have to go to school.

You will normally not say Det er otte to tell the time. You can say Den er otte in casual speech, but that den still refers to klokken (understood from context).

Some natural options:

Klokken er otte. – neutral, full form.
Den er otte. – more informal, when it’s obvious you’re talking about the time.

Det er klokken otte is only used in special constructions, like:

Det er klokken otte, vi mødes. – It is at eight o’clock that we meet.

For a simple time-telling sentence, Klokken er otte is the normal form.

Why is it klokken and not klokke?

Klokken is the definite form of klokke (clock).

klokke = a clock
klokken = the clock

When you talk about the time of day in Danish, you almost always use the definite form:

Klokken er tre. – It’s three o’clock.
Klokken er halv ni. – It’s half past eight.
Hvornår kommer du? – Klokken seks. – What time are you coming? – At six.

You can think of it as “the time (on the clock) is eight,” not just “a clock is eight,” so klokken is required here.

What exactly does om morgenen mean, and how does it compare to English in the morning?

om morgenen literally means about/during the morning, but idiomatically it matches English in the morning.

Typical patterns:

om morgenen – in the morning
om aftenen – in the evening
om natten – at night

Examples:

Jeg drikker kaffe om morgenen. – I drink coffee in the morning.
Klokken er otte om morgenen. – It’s eight in the morning.

So you can usually translate om + [part of day in definite form] as in the … in English.

Why is it om morgenen and not i morgenen?

For parts of the day, Danish normally uses om, not i, for general time expressions:

om morgenen – in the morning
om eftermiddagen – in the afternoon
om aftenen – in the evening
om natten – at night

i is used with other kinds of time expressions:

i januar – in January
i weekenden – at/over the weekend
i går – yesterday

i morgenen is very unusual and would normally sound wrong in standard Danish. So you should learn om morgenen as a fixed, correct phrase.

What’s the difference between morgen, morgenen, and i morgen?

These are easy to mix up:

morgen – morning (indefinite form; mainly in compounds)
- morgenmad – breakfast (morning food)
morgenen – the morning (definite, used in time phrases)
- om morgenen – in the morning
i morgen – tomorrow (completely different meaning!)
- Vi ses i morgen. – See you tomorrow.

In the sentence Klokken er otte om morgenen, you have morgenen (the morning), not i morgen (tomorrow).

So:

om morgenen = in the morning
i morgen = tomorrow

Does skal here mean must, have to, or am going to?

skal is a modal verb that can express:

Obligation / necessity (like must, have to):
- Jeg skal i skole. – I have to go to school / I must go to school.
Planned future / arrangement (like am going to, am supposed to):
- Jeg skal i skole klokken otte. – I’m going to school at eight / I’m supposed to be at school at eight.

Context decides the nuance. In Jeg skal i skole, both I have to go to school and I’m going to school are natural translations; it suggests a duty or scheduled activity rather than a spontaneous plan.

Why is it jeg skal i skole and not something like jeg skal gå til skole?

Danish often omits an explicit verb of motion (like go) when you combine a modal verb with a place expression. The movement is understood from the context.

So instead of:

jeg skal gå til skole (literal: I shall walk to school – grammatical but unusual),

Danish naturally says:

jeg skal i skole – I’m going to school / I have to go to school.

Other examples of this pattern:

Jeg skal på arbejde. – I’m going to work / I have to go to work.
Vi skal i byen i aften. – We’re going out tonight.

So skal + i/på + [place] often expresses “going to [place]” without a separate verb like gå (go).

Why is there no article before skole in jeg skal i skole?

Certain nouns referring to institutions are used without an article when you talk about their normal function:

i skole – at/to school (as a pupil)
i kirke – at/to church (as a worshipper)
på arbejde – at/to work (as an employee)
i seng – in/into bed (to sleep)

Compare:

Jeg skal i skole. – I have to go to school (as a student).
Jeg er i skolen. – I’m in the school (building). (more physical location)

So when you mean “go to school as an institution, to study,” you say i skole without an article.

What is the difference between i skole and i skolen?

The difference is similar to English at school vs in the school:

i skole (no article) – focuses on the activity / role (being a pupil, attending classes).
- Jeg skal i skole. – I have to go to school (as a student).
i skolen (with article) – focuses on the building / physical place.
- Jeg er i skolen nu. – I’m in the school (building) now.

So:

Use i skole when you mean “to be/go to school” in the sense of education.
Use i skolen when you are talking about the literal building or location.

Could I say Klokken otte om morgenen skal jeg i skole instead? Is that still correct?

Yes, Klokken otte om morgenen skal jeg i skole is grammatically correct. It just changes the focus and uses typical Danish word order rules:

Klokken otte om morgenen is moved to the front to emphasize the time.
Danish main clauses still keep the verb in second position (V2 rule), so after fronting the time phrase, skal comes next, then the subject jeg:
- [Klokken otte om morgenen] [skal] [jeg] [i skole].

Meaning-wise, it’s similar to:

At eight in the morning, I have to go to school.

The original sentence:

Klokken er otte om morgenen, og jeg skal i skole.

states the time first and then adds a new clause with jeg as the subject of skal. Your alternative sentence is just one clause with the time in front. Both are fine, just slightly different in style and emphasis.

Why is there a comma before og in …, og jeg skal i skole?

Danish comma rules allow two standards. In many texts (especially older or more formal ones), you put a comma between two main clauses connected by og:

Klokken er otte om morgenen, og jeg skal i skole.

Here you have:

Klokken er otte om morgenen.
Jeg skal i skole.

These are two full main clauses, so a comma before og is correct under the traditional comma rules.

Under the newer comma rules, you may omit that comma:

Klokken er otte om morgenen og jeg skal i skole.

Both versions can be seen in modern Danish; the one with the comma is very common and always safe.