Til frokost spiser de en skive rugbrød med ost og lidt syltetøj.

and

Breakdown of Til frokost spiser de en skive rugbrød med ost og lidt syltetøj.

• en: a
• med: with
• til: for

Questions & Answers about Til frokost spiser de en skive rugbrød med ost og lidt syltetøj.

Why is the word order Til frokost spiser de ... and not De spiser til frokost ...?

Both are possible, but they do slightly different things.

Danish main clauses normally follow the verb-second (V2) rule. That means the finite verb must come in the second position.

• De spiser til frokost ... = the subject de comes first
• Til frokost spiser de ... = the time phrase til frokost comes first, so the verb spiser must come next, before de

So when Til frokost is moved to the front for emphasis or topic, Danish word order becomes:

• Til frokost = first element
• spiser = second element
• de = subject after the verb

This is very common in Danish.

What does til frokost mean literally, and why is it til?

Literally, til frokost means something like for lunch or at lunch.

In Danish, til is often used in fixed time expressions connected with meals:

• til morgenmad = for breakfast / at breakfast
• til frokost = for lunch / at lunch
• til aftensmad = for dinner

So this is a natural idiomatic expression, even if it does not match English word-for-word.

Why is used here? What form is it?