Learn Hardcore Danish: Hvis jeg består eksamen, vil jeg fejre det med min familie. - If I pass the exam, I will celebrate it with my family.

Jeg består eksamen. – I pass the exam (the exam I’m supposed to take in this context).
Jeg skal til eksamen i morgen. – I have an exam tomorrow.

If you use an article, you slightly change the nuance:

Jeg består en eksamen. – I pass an exam (one exam, among others; more “an exam” than “the exam”).
Jeg består eksamenen. – I pass the (specific) exam. (referring to one particular exam already known in the context)

In this sentence, it’s understood that eksamen is the relevant exam for the speaker, so Danish naturally omits the article.

What does består mean here, and how is it used?

Består is the present tense of at bestå. It has (at least) two common meanings:

To pass (an exam/test)
- Jeg består eksamen. – I pass the exam.
To consist of
- Kurset består af tre dele. – The course consists of three parts.

In this sentence, it obviously has the first meaning: to pass (an exam).

Conjugation (regular verb):

infinitive: at bestå
present: består
past: bestod
past participle: bestået

Why is vil used? Is this the Danish future tense?

Danish doesn’t have a dedicated future tense like English will-forms. Instead, it usually uses the present tense, sometimes together with vil or skal to talk about the future.

In this sentence:

vil jeg fejre literally: I want/will celebrate

Vil + infinitive often functions like English will to talk about a future event, especially when there is some intention or decision:

Hvis jeg består eksamen, vil jeg fejre det.
If I pass the exam, I’ll celebrate it.

You could also say:

Hvis jeg består eksamen, fejrer jeg det med min familie.

This is also correct Danish; it still refers to the future. Using vil here just makes the “future intention” a bit more explicit, similar to English will.

Why is it vil jeg fejre and not jeg vil fejre after the comma?

This is about word order in main clauses after a fronted element.

Danish main clauses are verb-second (V2), like German and Dutch. The finite verb must be in the second position of a main clause.

When you start the sentence with a subordinate clause (Hvis jeg består eksamen), that whole clause occupies the first “slot” of the main clause that follows. As a result, the finite verb of the main clause must come next:

Hvis jeg består eksamen, vil jeg fejre det…
[subordinate clause] + [finite verb vil] + [subject jeg] + …

If you started directly with the main clause, you’d get “normal” subject–verb order:

Jeg vil fejre det med min familie, hvis jeg består eksamen.

So both are correct; the inversion (vil jeg) happens because something else (the hvis-clause) is placed at the beginning.

Could I say Jeg vil fejre det med min familie, hvis jeg består eksamen instead? Is that still correct?

Yes, that’s completely correct and very natural.

Hvis jeg består eksamen, vil jeg fejre det med min familie.
Jeg vil fejre det med min familie, hvis jeg består eksamen.

Both mean the same thing. The difference is just emphasis and flow:

Starting with Hvis jeg består eksamen makes the condition more prominent.
Starting with Jeg vil fejre det… emphasizes the celebration plan first, and then adds the condition.

Why is there a comma before vil jeg fejre?

Danish comma rules require a comma between a subordinate clause and the main clause:

Hvis jeg består eksamen, vil jeg fejre det…
- Hvis introduces a subordinate clause.
- After that clause ends, you put a comma before the main clause.

You would also put a comma if the order is reversed:

Jeg vil fejre det med min familie, hvis jeg består eksamen.

Some people use a slightly different comma style in very informal writing, but the comma in this sentence is fully standard and recommended.

What does det refer to in fejre det? Why is det needed?

Det here is an object pronoun meaning it. It refers to the whole event of passing the exam.

Jeg vil fejre det – I will celebrate it (the fact that I passed).

In Danish, using det like this is very natural when you celebrate something or talk about it as an event:

Vi fejrede det, da hun fik jobbet. – We celebrated it when she got the job.
Vi talte om det i går. – We talked about it yesterday.

You can say Jeg vil fejre med min familie, but then the meaning shifts slightly toward “celebrate (in general) with my family”, without explicitly pointing to the exam result as the thing being celebrated. Using det makes the connection clearer and more idiomatic here.

Why is it min familie and not mit familie or mine familie?

Danish possessive pronouns must agree with the gender and number of the noun:

min – for common gender, singular (en-words)
mit – for neuter, singular (et-words)
mine – for plural (both genders)

Familie is a common gender noun (en familie), singular, so you use:

min familie – my family

Examples:

min bil (en bil)
mit hus (et hus)
mine børn (børn = plural)

Why is there no article before familie? Why not min den familie or something similar?

In Danish, when you use a possessive pronoun (like min, din, hans, etc.), you normally do not use an article as well:

min familie – my family (not den min familie)
mit hus – my house (not det mit hus)
mine venner – my friends (not de mine venner)

So min familie is the correct and normal form. The possessive already makes the noun specific, so no article is needed.

What exactly does fejre mean? Is it like “to party”?

At fejre means to celebrate. It’s broader than just “to party”:

Jeg vil fejre det med min familie.
I will celebrate it with my family.
(could be a dinner, a small gathering, not necessarily a big party)

If you want to stress the idea of “having a party”, you might say:

Jeg vil holde fest. – I will throw a party.
Vi holdt en stor fest. – We had a big party.

So:

fejre = celebrate (the occasion, success, etc.)
holde fest = have/throw a party

What’s the difference between hvis and når? Could I say Når jeg består eksamen?

Hvis and når can both translate to if/when, but they’re used differently.

hvis = if (a condition, uncertain)
når = when (something expected/known to happen, more certain or regular)

In most contexts:

Hvis jeg består eksamen… – If I pass the exam… (it may or may not happen)
Når jeg består eksamen… – When I pass the exam… (speaker sounds confident/assumes it will happen)

So yes, you can say:

Når jeg består eksamen, vil jeg fejre det med min familie.

That would sound more like: “When I pass the exam, I’ll celebrate it with my family,” with a confident tone.

Is there a difference between eksamen and prøve?

Both can translate to exam/test, but they’re used a bit differently:

eksamen
- Often refers to more formal, larger, or final exams (school, university, official exams).
- Jeg skal til eksamen i matematik. – I have an (official) exam in math.
prøve
- More general test/quiz/try-out; can be smaller or less formal.
- Vi har en lille prøve i morgen. – We have a small test tomorrow.

There is overlap, and context matters, but in this sentence eksamen sounds like a significant exam (e.g. end-of-term or final exam), which fits well with celebrating afterwards.

Are there any important pronunciation tips for this sentence for an English speaker?

A few key points:

Hvis – the h is normally silent: sounds like vis with a short i.
jeg – often pronounced like “yai” or “yi”, not like English “jeg”.
eksamen – stress on the -ksa-: roughly ek-SA-men (the final -en is quite weak).
vil – short i, like in English “will”, but shorter and tenser.
fejre – ej is like English “eye” → FYE-re (with a schwa-like final vowel).
det – often sounds like a short de or dæ, very quick.
familie – stress on -mil-, last -ie is a weak sound: fa-MIL-ye or fa-MIL-jə.

Spoken quickly, the whole sentence will sound much more compressed than the written form suggests.