Jeg henter pillerne på apoteket, men jeg spørger først, hvordan jeg skal tage dem.

I pick up the pills at the pharmacy, but first I ask how I should take them.

Breakdown of Jeg henter pillerne på apoteket, men jeg spørger først, hvordan jeg skal tage dem.

• jeg: I
• men: but
• tage: to take
• på: at
• dem: them
• hvordan: how
• skulle: should
• hente: to pick up
• spørge: to ask
• først: first
• apoteket: the pharmacy
• pillen: the pill

Questions & Answers about Jeg henter pillerne på apoteket, men jeg spørger først, hvordan jeg skal tage dem.

Why does Jeg henter use the present tense when it sounds like a future plan in English?

Danish often uses the present tense for near-future or planned actions when the context makes the time clear. So Jeg henter pillerne på apoteket can mean I’m picking up the pills at the pharmacy or I’ll pick up the pills at the pharmacy, depending on context. If you want to make the future extra explicit, you can also use Jeg skal hente... (I’m going to / I have to pick up...).

What’s the difference between henter and tager in this context?

henter means pick up / fetch / collect (go get something and bring it back). That fits a pharmacy situation: you go there and collect the medication.
tager often means take (including taking medicine), so tager pillerne would usually mean you ingest them, not collect them.

Why is it pillerne and not piller?

pillerne is the definite plural form: the pills. Danish commonly uses the definite form when referring to specific, known items (for example, the pills that have been prescribed).

• piller = pills (in general)
• pillerne = the pills (specific ones)

Why is it på apoteket and not i apoteket?

With places like shops and service locations, Danish often uses på to mean “at” in the sense of “at that place / by that institution.”

• på apoteket = at the pharmacy (standard phrasing)
  i apoteket can exist, but it emphasizes being physically inside the building, and it sounds less natural for the “go there to do an errand” meaning.

What does men do to the word order in the second part?

After men (but), Danish keeps normal main-clause word order: the subject comes before the verb. So you get:
... men jeg spørger først ... (but I ask first ...)
This is different from a connector like så in some uses, or from subordinate clauses, where the verb position changes.

Why is the adverb først placed after the verb: jeg spørger først?

That’s a very common placement in Danish: subject + verb + adverb.
jeg spørger først literally “I ask first” = “I ask first / before anything else.”
You can move først earlier for emphasis (e.g., men først spørger jeg...), but that triggers V2 word order changes and sounds more marked/stylistic.

Why is there a comma before men?

In Danish, it’s standard to put a comma before coordinating conjunctions like men when they join two independent clauses (each could stand as its own sentence):
1) Jeg henter pillerne på apoteket
2) jeg spørger først, hvordan jeg skal tage dem
So the comma helps show the boundary between the two main clauses.

Why is there another comma after først: jeg spørger først, hvordan...?

That comma marks the start of an embedded (indirect) question clause introduced by hvordan. In Danish punctuation, it’s common to set off subordinate clauses (including indirect questions) with a comma.

What kind of clause is hvordan jeg skal tage dem—is it a question?

It’s an indirect question (embedded question). It functions like a noun clause: “I ask how I should take them.”
Because it’s indirect, it uses statement word order (subject before verb): jeg skal tage rather than direct-question order like skal jeg tage....

Why is it skal here—does it mean “must” or “should”?

skal is a modal verb that can mean must, have to, am supposed to, or should, depending on context. With instructions about medication, hvordan jeg skal tage dem is typically best understood as how I’m supposed to take them / how I should take them (dosage, timing, with food, etc.).

Why use tage for medicine—can you also say something else?

Yes: tage is the standard verb for “take (medicine)” in Danish: tage piller, tage medicin. It matches English well here. Alternatives exist but are more specific:

• indtage = ingest/consume (more formal)
• sluge = swallow (physical act) For general instructions, tage is the most natural.

What does dem refer to, and why not repeat pillerne?

dem is the object pronoun them, referring back to pillerne. Danish, like English, avoids repeating the noun when it’s already clear:

• tage dem = take them
  Repeating pillerne would be possible but sounds heavier and less natural in this context.