Jeg drak kaffe i morges, før jeg gik på arbejde.

Drak is the past tense of at drikke (to drink).

• drikke → drak → har drukket
• infinitive → simple past → past participle

Gik is the past tense of at gå (to go / walk).

• gå → gik → har gået

Both are common irregular verbs, so you have to learn their past forms individually.

In Danish, the simple past is very commonly used for a completed action in the past, especially when the time is clear.

Here, i morges (this morning / earlier this morning) clearly places the action in the past, so Jeg drak kaffe is the natural choice.

Danish can also use the present perfect in some situations, but with a specific past-time expression like i morges, the simple past is usually the normal form.

I morges means this morning or earlier this morning.

It is a fixed time expression:

• i dag = today
• i går = yesterday
• i morges = this morning
• i aftes = this evening / last night

Even though i often means in, in expressions like i morges you should learn it as a whole phrase.

In Danish, just like in English, you often use a noun with no article when talking about a substance or something in a general sense.

So:

• Jeg drak kaffe = I drank coffee

This means coffee as a drink/substance, not one coffee as a countable item.

If you say en kaffe, it usually means a coffee in the sense of a cup of coffee.

• Jeg drak en kaffe = I had a coffee / I drank a cup of coffee

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

No, you normally need it.

Før jeg gik på arbejde is a full subordinate clause, and Danish needs the subject:

• før = before
• jeg gik på arbejde = I went to work

So the structure is:

• main clause: Jeg drak kaffe i morges
• subordinate clause: før jeg gik på arbejde

You cannot normally say just før gik på arbejde.

In standard Danish, a comma is usually written before a subordinate clause, and før jeg gik på arbejde is a subordinate clause.

So the comma helps show the structure:

• Jeg drak kaffe i morges, før jeg gik på arbejde.

This is very normal in written Danish.

Because after før, Danish uses subordinate clause word order.

In this sentence, the order is:

• før + subject + verb
• før jeg gik

That is the normal subordinate-clause pattern.

If it were a main clause, the word order would be different depending on what comes first, but after før you do not use inversion here.

På arbejde is a fixed expression meaning at work or, with gå, go to work.

So:

• gå på arbejde = go to work
• være på arbejde = be at work / be working

This is something you mostly need to learn as a set phrase. English speakers often expect til because English says to work, but Danish idiomatically says på arbejde.

Compare:

• Jeg gik på arbejde = I went to work
• Jeg er på arbejde = I am at work / I am working

Usually it means went to work, not necessarily that the person walked.

Although gå can mean walk, in expressions like gå på arbejde it often simply means go to work in a general sense.

If you want to make it clear that someone physically walked, Danish would usually add more context, for example:

• Jeg gik til arbejde can sometimes suggest walking more literally, but it is less idiomatic than gå på arbejde for the general idea of going to work.
• Jeg gik hele vejen på arbejde = I walked all the way to work

So in your sentence, gik på arbejde is best understood as went to work.

No, not in this sentence.

Here før means before.

Examples:

• før jeg gik på arbejde = before I went to work

To express ago, Danish usually uses siden:

• for to dage siden = two days ago

So før and siden are not interchangeable.

Here, arbejde is a noun, meaning work.

In gå på arbejde, the expression literally contains the noun arbejde.

But arbejde can also be a verb:

• at arbejde = to work

Compare:

• Jeg gik på arbejde = I went to work
• Jeg arbejdede = I worked

So the same word form can appear as either a noun or a verb depending on the sentence.

Yes, often it could.

• før jeg gik på arbejde
• inden jeg gik på arbejde

Both can mean before I went to work.

In many everyday contexts, they are very similar. Learners will often see both. In this sentence, før sounds completely natural and common.

If the subordinate clause comes first, the main clause verb must come before the subject in the next clause because of Danish V2 word order.

So you would say:

• Før jeg gik på arbejde, drak jeg kaffe i morges.

Notice the change:

• Jeg drak ... becomes
• ... drak jeg ...

That inversion is very important in Danish main clauses after an introductory element.