Efter opvasken slapper jeg af på sofaen i stuen.

After the dishes, I relax on the sofa in the living room.

Breakdown of Efter opvasken slapper jeg af på sofaen i stuen.

• jeg: I
• i: in
• på: on
• stuen: the living room
• efter: after
• slappe af: to relax
• sofaen: the sofa
• opvasken: the washing-up

Questions & Answers about Efter opvasken slapper jeg af på sofaen i stuen.

Why does the sentence start with Efter opvasken—does that change word order?

Yes. When something other than the subject comes first in a main clause, Danish uses V2 word order: the finite verb must be in the second position.
So with Efter opvasken first, you get:

• Efter opvasken (fronted element) + slapper (finite verb) + jeg (subject) + af … If you start with the subject instead, it’s:
• Jeg slapper af på sofaen i stuen efter opvasken.

What exactly is opvasken grammatically?

Opvasken is opvask (washing up / the dishes) + the definite suffix -en, so it means the washing up / the dishwashing.
Danish often makes nouns definite by attaching -en/-et rather than using a separate word like the.

Why is it Efter opvasken and not something like Efter den opvask?

Because Danish commonly uses the definite noun form when English would say after the washing up.
You can say efter den opvask, but that tends to sound more specific/pointing, like after that washing up (emphasizing a particular one).

Is opvask a noun or a verb here, and could you say it differently?

Here it’s a noun: opvask(en) = the washing up.
You could also express the idea with a verb clause, for example:

• Efter jeg har taget opvasken, slapper jeg af … = After I’ve done the dishes, I relax …
  But your sentence is the compact noun-phrase version.

What does slapper … af mean, and why is it split?

slappe af is a very common Danish verb meaning to relax. It’s a particle verb (verb + particle), where the particle af often comes later in the clause:

• Jeg slapper af. = I relax / I’m relaxing.
  With extra information inserted, af typically stays after the verb’s object/complements:
• Jeg slapper af på sofaen. You may also see af right after the verb in shorter sentences, but splitting is extremely normal.

Why is it slapper and not slap?

Because slapper is present tense. Danish present tense is often formed with -r:

• at slappe (infinitive)
• jeg slapper (present)
• jeg slappede (past)
  So slap would not be the present tense form here.

Does jeg slapper af mean “I relax” or “I am relaxing”?

It can mean either. Danish present tense often covers both simple present and present continuous depending on context. In a routine-type sentence like this, it commonly means I (usually) relax / I relax (then).

What is the function of på in på sofaen?

på means on. Danish uses på for being positioned on a surface:

• på sofaen = on the sofa
  (English often also says on the sofa, though on vs in varies by dialect.)

Why is it sofaen and not en sofa?

sofaen is definite = the sofa. The sentence talks about a specific, known sofa (typically the sofa in the home).
en sofa would mean a sofa, introducing it as non-specific:

• Jeg slapper af på en sofa = I relax on a sofa (some sofa, not necessarily the one).

What does i stuen add—does it mean “in the living room”?

Yes. stuen is the living room / the sitting room (definite form of stue).
So på sofaen i stuen means on the sofa in the living room. It specifies which sofa (the one located in the living room).

Why is it i stuen (in) and not på stuen (on)?

Because for rooms/indoor spaces Danish normally uses i = in:

• i køkkenet, i soveværelset, i stuen
  på is used more for surfaces or certain “locations/areas” (like på arbejde = at work), but for a room, i is the standard choice.

Is the word order inside på sofaen i stuen fixed?

The order is natural because i stuen functions as a modifier telling you which sofa (the sofa that is in the living room).
You could also restructure:

• I stuen slapper jeg af på sofaen. (fronting I stuen, again triggering V2) But på sofaen i stuen is a very common, smooth phrasing.

Could you place Efter opvasken at the end instead?

Yes:

• Jeg slapper af på sofaen i stuen efter opvasken.
  That’s also correct. Putting Efter opvasken first gives it a bit more “scene-setting” emphasis and triggers the V2 inversion (slapper jeg).

How do you pronounce Efter opvasken slapper jeg af på sofaen i stuen roughly?

A rough learner-friendly guide (approximate; Danish varies by region):

• Efter ≈ EF-ter (often with a softer t)
• opvasken ≈ OP-vas-ken (the a is fairly open)
• slapper ≈ SLAP-per
• jeg ≈ yai / yei (often very reduced in fast speech)
• af ≈ ah (often not a strong f)
• sofaen ≈ SO-fa-en (may compress in speech)
• i stuen ≈ i STOO-en (the e can be quite reduced)

If you want, I can give an IPA version and note common reductions in connected speech.