Learn Hardcore Danish: Han arbejder stille på sit kontor.

Infinitive: at arbejde (to work)
Present tense: arbejder
- jeg arbejder – I work / I am working
- du arbejder – you work
- han/hun/den/det arbejder – he/she/it works
- vi arbejder – we work
- I arbejder – you (plural) work
- de arbejder – they work

So you never add extra endings like -er or -s depending on the subject; arbejder is the correct and only present-tense form.

Does han arbejder mean he works or he is working?

It can mean both:

Han arbejder stille på sit kontor.
= He works quietly in his office. (in general)
= He is working quietly in his office. (right now, from context)

Danish usually uses the simple present (arbejder) for what English expresses as both simple present and present continuous. Whether it’s “he works” or “he is working” depends on context, not on verb form.

What exactly is stille here – an adjective or an adverb? And why doesn’t it change form?

In this sentence, stille functions as an adverb of manner (“quietly”).

Danish often uses the same form for the adjective and the adverb:

Adjective: en stille dreng – a quiet boy
Adverb: Han arbejder stille – He works quietly

Unlike English, Danish usually does not add an ending like -ly to form an adverb. The base form stille works as both adjective and adverb (depending on position and function in the sentence), so it stays unchanged here.

Why is the order arbejder stille på sit kontor and not arbejder på sit kontor stille?

Danish has a preferred order for adverbials (extra information like manner, place, time). A common pattern is:

Manner – Place – Time

In the sentence:

stille = manner (how he works)
på sit kontor = place (where he works)

So Han arbejder stille på sit kontor follows the natural Manner–Place order.

You can sometimes move adverbials for emphasis, but Han arbejder på sit kontor stille would sound unusual or marked; the default and most natural is the one you see.

Why is it på sit kontor and not i sit kontor?

Both på and i can mean “in/at,” but their use is strongly influenced by fixed patterns and type of place.

For workplaces and institutions, Danish often uses på:

på kontoret – at the office
på skolen – at school
på arbejdet – at work
på hospitalet – at the hospital

So på sit kontor is the natural choice for in/at his office.
I sit kontor would literally mean inside the physical space of the office, and is much less idiomatic; you would mainly use i with rooms or enclosed spaces as physical locations (e.g., i stuen, in the living room).

Why is it sit kontor and not sin kontor or hans kontor?

Danish has two different systems at play here:

Reflexive vs. non‑reflexive “his/her”
- sin / sit / sine = his/her/its own (refers back to the subject)
- hans / hendes = his / her (refers to someone else’s)

Since the subject is Han and the office is his own office, you must use the reflexive possessive:

Han arbejder på sit kontor.
= He works in his own office.

If you said:

Han arbejder på hans kontor.
this would usually be understood as He works in *another man’s office*.

Choosing between sin / sit / sine
These agree with the grammatical gender and number of the noun possessed:

sin
- common gender singular: sin bil (his/her own car, en bil)
sit
- neuter singular: sit kontor (his/her own office, et kontor)
sine
- plural: sine bøger (his/her own books)

Since kontor is neuter singular (et kontor), the correct form is sit.

Why is there no article like det or et before sit kontor?

In Danish, a possessive (like min, din, sin/sit/sine, hans, hendes) replaces the article. So you do not say:

✗ på det sit kontor
✗ på et sit kontor

You just say:

på sit kontor – in his office
på mit kontor – in my office
på hendes kontor – in her office

The possessive itself functions like “the/ a etc.” plus “my/your/his/her” combined; no extra article is added.

What’s the difference between sit kontor and kontoret (with the definite ending)?

på sit kontor
= in his (own) office
Emphasises possession: whose office it is.
på kontoret
= at the office
More general; could be “our company office / the office (we all know)”. It doesn’t by itself say whose office it is.

So:

Han arbejder stille på sit kontor.
= He works quietly in his own office.
Han arbejder stille på kontoret.
= He works quietly at the office (maybe a shared office, or just “the office” in general).

Could the sentence also be Han er stille og arbejder på sit kontor? Does that mean the same thing?

Not quite the same:

Han arbejder stille på sit kontor.
= He works quietly in his office (focus on how he works).
Han er stille og arbejder på sit kontor.
= He is quiet and works in his office.
This sounds more like you are saying two things about him:
1. He is a quiet person / he is (being) quiet.
2. He works in his office.

In the original sentence, stille clearly modifies the verb (arbejder); in the second, stille more naturally modifies han.

How would I say He is not working quietly in his office? Where does ikke go?

You put ikke after the verb and before the adverbial of manner:

Han arbejder ikke stille på sit kontor.
= He is not working quietly in his office.

Structure:

Han (subject)
arbejder (verb)
ikke (negation)
stille (manner)
på sit kontor (place)

What’s the difference between stille and roligt/rolig for “quietly/calmly”?

They overlap in meaning but are not identical:

stille
- Focuses on low volume / silence.
- Han arbejder stille = He works quietly (without making noise).
rolig / roligt
- Focuses on calmness, lack of stress or agitation.
- Han arbejder roligt = He works calmly (not stressed or rushed).

So:

Han arbejder stille på sit kontor.
= You imagine him not making noise.
Han arbejder roligt på sit kontor.
= You imagine him being calm, not nervous or frantic.