Vandet koger hurtigt i gryden, og suppen dufter allerede godt.

The water boils quickly in the pot, and the soup already smells good.

Breakdown of Vandet koger hurtigt i gryden, og suppen dufter allerede godt.

• og: and
• i: in
• vandet: the water
• godt: good
• allerede: already
• hurtigt: quickly
• koge: to boil
• gryden: the pot
• suppen: the soup
• dufte: to smell

Questions & Answers about Vandet koger hurtigt i gryden, og suppen dufter allerede godt.

Why does vandet end in -et? What does that tell me?

Vand is a neuter noun (et vand), and -et is the definite singular ending for neuter nouns.
So vandet means the water (not just water in general).

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How is koger formed, and what tense is it?

koger is the present tense of at koge (to boil).
Danish present tense usually adds -r to the verb stem: koge → koger.

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Is koger here transitive or intransitive—do I need an object?

Here it’s intransitive: Vandet koger = The water is boiling (no object needed).
If you mean boil something, Danish commonly uses a different construction like koge vand (boil water) where vand becomes the object.

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Why is the adverb hurtigt placed after the verb?

In a normal main clause, Danish has V2 word order: the finite verb comes early (typically in position 2), and adverbs like hurtigt often come after it:
Vandet koger hurtigt ...
You can front the adverb for emphasis, but then something else must move because of V2:
Hurtigt koger vandet i gryden ... (more emphatic/stylistic)

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Why do we say i gryden and not just i gryde?

gryde is a common-gender noun (en gryde), and gryden is the definite form (the pot).
Danish often uses the definite form when the container is a specific, understood one in the situation—much like English in the pot rather than in a pot.

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What’s the role of og here, and does it affect word order?

og means and and links two independent main clauses:
1) Vandet koger hurtigt i gryden
2) suppen dufter allerede godt
Each clause keeps normal main-clause word order (verb early / V2).

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Why is there a comma before og?

Because og is connecting two full main clauses with different subjects (vandet / suppen). In Danish, it’s standard to put a comma in that case:
..., og suppen ...

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What does dufter mean, and how is it different from lugter?

dufter (from at dufte) usually suggests a pleasant smell (smells nice / has a nice aroma).
lugter (from at lugte) is neutral and can be good or bad (smells in general).
So suppen dufter implies the soup smells good.

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Why is it allerede and where does it usually go in the sentence?

allerede means already. It’s a sentence adverb and often comes after the verb and before other adverbs/objects:
suppen dufter allerede godt
This placement is very typical for Danish sentence adverbs.

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Why is it godt and not god?

Because godt is used adverbially here: dufter godt = smells well / smells nice (describing the verb dufter).
If you used an adjective describing a noun, you’d match gender/number/definiteness, e.g. en god suppe (a good soup).

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How do I pronounce some key words (roughly)?

Approximate guide (varies by accent):

• vandet ≈ VAN-eth (the d is very soft)
• koger ≈ KOH-uh
• hurtigt ≈ HUR-ti(k)t (the end can sound clipped)
• gryden ≈ GRÜE-then (Danish r is throaty; y is like German ü)
• dufter ≈ DOOF-tuh
• allerede ≈ A-luh-REH-thuh
• godt ≈ got (the d is not a clear English d)

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Could I swap the two parts around, and would that change anything?

Yes, you can reorder the clauses:
Suppen dufter allerede godt, og vandet koger hurtigt i gryden.
Meaning stays essentially the same; the first clause just gets slightly more focus because it comes first.