Hun elsker, når planen holder præcis tid, og ingen kommer for sent.

She loves it when the schedule keeps exact time and no one arrives late.

Breakdown of Hun elsker, når planen holder præcis tid, og ingen kommer for sent.

• og: and
• når: when
• hun: she
• holde: to keep
• tiden: the time
• elske: to love
• ingen: no one
• planen: the schedule
• præcis: exact
• komme for sent: to be late

Questions & Answers about Hun elsker, når planen holder præcis tid, og ingen kommer for sent.

Why is there a comma after elsker: Hun elsker, når planen holder præcis tid, og ingen kommer for sent?

The comma shows that når planen holder præcis tid is a separate clause (a time clause) that depends on the main clause Hun elsker.

• Main clause: Hun elsker
• Subordinate (time) clause: når planen holder præcis tid

Danish traditionally puts a comma before subordinate clauses introduced by words like når, fordi, at, som etc.

In modern Danish (the new comma system), you are allowed to drop some of these commas, but most people still write:

• Hun elsker, når planen holder præcis tid.

So the comma is normal and helpful, but not absolutely mandatory under the new rules.

Could you leave out that comma and just write Hun elsker når planen holder præcis tid?

Yes, under the new Danish comma rules you can write:

• Hun elsker når planen holder præcis tid og ingen kommer for sent.

This is still correct.

However:

• Many Danes still prefer Hun elsker, når ...
• For learners, using the comma before når is usually safer and more readable, because it clearly marks the start of the subordinate clause.

What exactly does når do here, and why not da or hvis?

Når introduces a time clause, and here it expresses something that happens regularly or in general:

• Hun elsker, når planen holder præcis tid ...
  = She loves it in situations when the schedule is exactly on time.

Contrast:

• da is used for one specific event in the past:
  
  • Hun elskede det, da planen holdt præcis tid i sidste uge.
    (one particular time last week)
• hvis is used for conditions / if-clauses:
  
  • Hun elsker det, hvis planen holder præcis tid.
    (if it happens; more hypothetical/conditional)

Here we are talking about a repeated/general situation, so når is the natural choice.

What is the role of når planen holder præcis tid in the sentence?

The whole clause når planen holder præcis tid functions as what she loves – roughly as the “object” or complement of elsker.

You can think of it like:

• Hun elsker (det øjeblik / den situation), når planen holder præcis tid ...

So she is not loving a thing (like chocolate), but a type of situation described by the når-clause.

Why is it planen and not en plan or just plan?

Danish marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun:

• en plan = a plan / a schedule
• planen = the plan / the schedule

There is no bare form like English “plan” or “schedule” without an article when you mean something specific.

Here we are clearly talking about a specific schedule (for example, the train timetable, a meeting schedule, the daily plan), so Danish uses the definite form planen.

Does planen here mean “the plan” (like an idea) or “the schedule / timetable”?

In this context, planen is best understood as “the schedule / timetable”, i.e. a plan that is tied to time.

If you want to be very clear about time in Danish, you could also say:

• tidsplanen (the time plan / schedule)
• køreplanen (for buses/trains: the timetable)

But planen can naturally mean the schedule when we are talking about times and punctuality, as in this sentence.

What does the phrase holder præcis tid mean, and is it idiomatic?

Yes, it is idiomatic.

• The verb holde (tiden) literally means “to keep (the time) / to be on time”.
• præcis means “precise(ly), exact(ly)”.
• tid means “time”.

So planen holder præcis tid is like saying:

• The schedule keeps exact time / runs exactly on time.

You might also see:

• Planen holder tiden præcist.
• Toget kører til tiden. (The train runs on time.)

All of these express punctuality; præcis tid just adds emphasis to the exactness.

Could you say holder tiden præcist instead of holder præcis tid?

Yes, that is also correct and sounds natural:

• når planen holder tiden præcist

Both holder præcis tid and holder tiden præcist are acceptable.
The difference is mostly stylistic:

• holder præcis tid: adjective præcis directly modifies tid.
• holder tiden præcist: adverb præcist modifies holder (tiden).

Meaning-wise, they both express that the schedule is exactly on time.

How does the word order work in når planen holder præcis tid?

In a subordinate clause introduced by når, the typical order is:

• [conjunction] + [subject] + [verb] + [other elements]

So:

• når (conjunction)
• planen (subject)
• holder (verb)
• præcis tid (object + modifier)

A corresponding main clause would be:

• Planen holder præcis tid.

The order of planen holder is the same here, because there is no sentence adverb (like ikke, altid) between them. The key point: in subordinate clauses, the verb does not move to second position in the same way as in questions or in main clauses with inversion.

What does ingen mean in og ingen kommer for sent? Is it singular or plural?

Ingen here means “no one / nobody” and acts as the subject of the clause.

• ingen kommer for sent ≈ “nobody arrives late”

Grammatically, ingen is treated as singular in this type of sentence, even though in meaning it refers to all people in the group.

You could also paraphrase:

• Ingen af dem kommer for sent.
  (None of them are late.)

Why is it for sent and not just sent?

In Danish:

• sent = late (in time or in the day, but not necessarily too late)
• for sent = too late, later than you should have been

So:

• Han kommer sent.
  He comes late (maybe just at a late hour).
• Han kommer for sent.
  He is too late (he misses the scheduled time / is not on time).

In this sentence, the idea is that nobody misses the scheduled time, so for sent is correct.

Why do you say kommer for sent and not er for sent?

In Danish, the natural idiom for “to be late (arrive late)” is:

• at komme for sent

Examples:

• Jeg kom for sent. – I was late / I arrived late.
• Du må ikke komme for sent. – You must not be late.

at være for sent is not used for this meaning.
So ingen kommer for sent is the normal, idiomatic way to say “nobody is (arrives) late.”

Why is there a comma before og: ... holder præcis tid, og ingen kommer for sent?

Because og introduces another finite clause:

• (når planen holder præcis tid)
• (ingen kommer for sent)

Traditional Danish comma rules say you should put a comma before og when it connects two clauses with their own verb and subject.

Under the newer, more relaxed system, that comma is more optional, and some people might write:

• Hun elsker, når planen holder præcis tid og ingen kommer for sent.

Both versions can be seen; the given sentence uses the more “traditional” style with a comma marking the clause boundary.

Could you add det after elsker, like Hun elsker det, når ...? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• Hun elsker det, når planen holder præcis tid, og ingen kommer for sent.

This is also correct.

Nuances:

• Hun elsker, når ...
  Sounds slightly more direct and general: she loves when this happens.
• Hun elsker det, når ...
  Slightly more explicit: she loves that kind of thing, when this happens.

In practice, the difference is small and both are natural.