Velbekomme, siger tjeneren, da hun sætter hovedretten på bordet.

Here Velbekomme is a fixed expression said when someone is being served food. In English, it is often translated as enjoy your meal or bon appétit in this context.

A useful extra point: velbekomme can also mean you’re welcome after someone says tak, so its exact meaning depends on the situation.

This is because Danish main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb comes in the second position.

In this sentence, Velbekomme comes first, so the verb siger has to come next:

• Velbekomme, siger tjeneren ...

If the sentence began with the subject instead, you could say:

• Tjeneren siger: Velbekomme.

So the inversion is normal Danish word order after another element has been placed first.

Because Danish often adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

• tjener = waiter/server
• tjeneren = the waiter/server

So -en here means the.

Because hun refers back to tjeneren and tells us the server is female.

A key point for English speakers: the noun tjener itself does not have to mean a male waiter. It is a common-gender noun in Danish, and the pronoun gives you the natural-sex information here.

So in natural English, you might think of this as:

• the waitress
• or more neutrally, the server

Because Danish forms compound nouns very freely, much more than English does.

• hoved = main/head
• ret = dish/course
• hovedret = main course
• hovedretten = the main course

So English often writes this as two words, but Danish usually writes it as one.

For the same reason as tjeneren: the definite article is attached to the noun.

• hovedret = main course
• hovedretten = the main course

So the sentence is talking about a specific main course, not just any main course.

Here da means something like as, when, or at the moment when.

It introduces the situation in which the server says Velbekomme:

• as she places the main course on the table

For learners, the important contrast is often:

• da = a specific occasion or moment
• når = something habitual, repeated, or more general

So da fits well here because this is one particular serving moment.

Sætte often means to set, put, or place something somewhere.

So sætter hovedretten på bordet means:

• places the main course on the table
• sets the main course down on the table

This is a very natural verb in Danish for putting an object down in position.

Because bordet means the table.

• bord = table
• bordet = the table

So på bordet means on the table.

Also notice that bord is a neuter noun, so its definite ending is -et, not -en.

Yes. The verbs siger and sætter are both present tense.

Danish often uses the present tense to describe what is happening in a scene, especially in examples, stories, or captions. So even though English might sometimes use says and sets down, the overall effect is simply to present the action vividly as it happens.

Because siger tjeneren is a reporting clause inserted into the direct speech structure.

The sentence is organized like this:

• Velbekomme
• siger tjeneren
• da hun sætter hovedretten på bordet

The commas help mark off the reporting part from the spoken words and the following clause. This is standard punctuation in Danish for this kind of sentence.

Yes. Because the pronoun is hun, a natural English translation could use waitress.

However, many learners and translators prefer server because it is gender-neutral and often sounds more natural in modern English. So both are possible, depending on style.