Efter en lang arbejdsdag på torsdag vil jeg bare blive hjemme og læse.

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

Here, the sentence starts with the adverbial phrase Efter en lang arbejdsdag på torsdag. Since that whole phrase takes the first position, the verb vil must come next, and the subject jeg comes after it:

• Efter en lang arbejdsdag på torsdag = first position
• vil = second position
• jeg = subject after the verb

If you started with the subject instead, you would get:

• Jeg vil bare blive hjemme og læse på torsdag efter en lang arbejdsdag.

Both are possible, but the original sentence emphasizes the time/background first.

Efter means after.

In this sentence, Efter en lang arbejdsdag means after a long workday. It introduces a time phrase that tells you when the main action happens.

This is very similar to English:

• After a long workday, I just want to stay home and read.

So efter is a preposition, and it is followed here by the noun phrase en lang arbejdsdag.

In Danish, days are commonly used with på when you mean on a certain day:

• på torsdag = on Thursday
• på mandag = on Monday
• på fredag = on Friday

So this works much like English on Thursday.

A useful detail: torsdag by itself can sometimes also be understood as Thursday, but på torsdag clearly marks it as a time expression.

Arbejdsdag means workday or working day.

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Danish. Danish often combines nouns into one word:

• arbejde = work
• dag = day
• arbejdsdag = workday

The -s- in the middle is a linking sound that often appears in compounds.

English sometimes writes similar ideas as one word, two words, or with a hyphen, but Danish very often prefers a single combined word.

Arbejdsdag is a common gender noun in Danish, so it takes en in the indefinite singular:

• en arbejdsdag

When you add an adjective before it, the adjective usually has its basic form in the indefinite singular common gender:

• en lang arbejdsdag = a long workday

So:

• en = a/an for common gender nouns
• lang = long
• arbejdsdag = workday

This is a standard adjective + noun pattern.

Vil literally means will and is often used to express the future, intention, or willingness.

In this sentence, it works naturally as a future meaning:

• vil jeg bare blive hjemme og læse = I’ll just stay home and read / I just want to stay home and read

Danish does not have a special future tense ending like some languages do. It often uses:

• the present tense, or
• a modal verb such as vil

So yes, vil is helping express a future idea here.

Bare here means just or simply.

It adds the sense that the speaker does not want anything complicated:

• jeg vil bare blive hjemme og læse = I just want to stay home and read

It often gives a tone like:

• that’s all I want
• nothing more ambitious than that
• simply

So it is not about physical nakedness or anything like English bare in that sense. It is the adverb meaning just/simply.

Yes, blive often means become, but it can also mean remain or stay, depending on context.

Here:

• blive hjemme = stay home

That is a very common expression in Danish. So blive is one of those verbs whose meaning changes with context.

Examples:

• Jeg bliver træt. = I become tired.
• Jeg bliver hjemme. = I stay home.

So in this sentence, blive does not mean become.

Hjemme means at home, while hjem often means home in the sense of toward home.

A useful contrast:

• Jeg er hjemme. = I am at home.
• Jeg går hjem. = I am going home.

In your sentence, the idea is staying in that location, not moving toward it, so hjemme is correct:

• blive hjemme = stay at home

This is a very common distinction in Danish.

Because after a modal verb like vil, Danish normally uses the bare infinitive without at.

So:

• vil blive
• vil læse

not:

• vil at blive
• vil at læse

This is similar to English:

• I will read not
• I will to read

So the structure is completely normal:

• vil jeg bare blive hjemme og læse

It is connected to the modal structure as a second infinitive.

The sentence contains two coordinated actions:

• blive hjemme = stay home
• læse = read

Both are governed by vil:

• vil ... blive hjemme og læse

So the meaning is:

• I will / want to stay home and read

You can think of it as:

• vil blive hjemme and
• vil læse

But Danish does not need to repeat vil.

Yes, derhjemme is possible, but it has a slightly different feel.

• hjemme = at home
• derhjemme = at home / back home / there at home

In many contexts, hjemme is the more neutral and natural choice. Derhjemme can sound a little more specific or contrastive, depending on context.

So:

• jeg vil bare blive hjemme og læse sounds very natural
• jeg vil bare blive derhjemme og læse is also possible, but a bit more marked

Yes, it is natural Danish.

It sounds like a normal sentence, especially if the speaker wants to frame the situation first with After a long workday on Thursday...

A Dane might also say it in other natural ways, for example:

• På torsdag vil jeg bare blive hjemme og læse efter en lang arbejdsdag.
• Jeg vil bare blive hjemme og læse på torsdag efter en lang arbejdsdag.

These versions shift the emphasis a bit, but the original sentence is perfectly good and idiomatic.