Min cykel står ikke i garagen, men i cykelskuret ved siden af huset.

Because cykel is a common-gender noun in Danish.

Danish singular nouns are usually either:

• common gender → use en in the indefinite form, and min
• neuter gender → use et in the indefinite form, and mit

So:

• en cykel = a bicycle
• min cykel = my bicycle

If the noun were neuter, you would use mit instead.

Danish often uses position verbs where English simply uses is.

Here, står literally means stands, and it is the natural verb for things that are considered to be in an upright position. A bicycle is typically thought of as something that stands.

So Danish prefers:

• Min cykel står i garagen = My bike is in the garage

Using er is not impossible in some contexts, but it sounds less natural here. Danish often distinguishes between:

• står = stands
• ligger = lies
• sidder = sits
• er = is

This is a very common feature of Danish.

Because in a normal Danish main clause, the finite verb usually comes early, and ikke typically comes after it.

So the pattern is:

• subject + verb + ikke
  • other information

In this sentence:

• Min cykel = subject
• står = finite verb
• ikke = not

So:

• Min cykel står ikke i garagen

This word order is very normal in Danish main clauses.

Because Danish usually expresses the by adding an ending to the noun.

So:

• garage = garage
• garagen = the garage

That means:

• i garagen = in the garage

You only use a separate word like den in special situations, for example when there is an adjective:

• i den store garage = in the big garage

Without an adjective, garagen is the normal form.

The noun is:

• en garage = a garage

To make it definite singular, Danish adds -n or -en depending on the word:

• garagen = the garage

So in the sentence, garagen is simply the definite form of garage.

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Danish.

It is made from:

• cykel = bicycle
• skur = shed

Together:

• cykelskur = bicycle shed / bike shed

Then the definite ending is added:

• cykelskuret = the bicycle shed / the bike shed

The final part of the compound determines the gender, and skur is a neuter noun:

• et skur
• skuret = the shed

So:

• cykelskuret = the bike shed

Because they have different grammatical genders.

• en garage → garagen
• et skur → skuret

Since cykelskur ends with skur, it keeps the gender of skur, which is neuter:

• et cykelskur
• cykelskuret

So:

• common gender nouns often take -en
• neuter nouns often take -et

Because Danish, like English, can omit repeated words when they are understood.

The full version could be:

• Min cykel står ikke i garagen, men den står i cykelskuret ved siden af huset.

But that sounds unnecessarily repetitive. So Danish normally shortens it to:

• Min cykel står ikke i garagen, men i cykelskuret ved siden af huset.

English does the same:

• My bike isn’t in the garage, but in the bike shed next to the house.

So this is a natural ellipsis.

Men means but and introduces a contrast.

The sentence contrasts two locations:

• not in the garage
• but in the bike shed

So men marks the correction or contrast:

• ikke i garagen, men i cykelskuret
  = not in the garage, but in the bike shed

Yes, ved siden af is a fixed expression meaning:

• beside
• next to

So:

• ved siden af huset = next to the house

It is best learned as a whole phrase.

The parts are:

• ved = by/at
• siden = side
• af = of/off

But in practice, learners should treat ved siden af as one unit meaning next to.

Because the sentence means the house, not just house in a general sense.

• et hus = a house
• huset = the house

So:

• ved siden af huset = next to the house

This is the normal definite form.

Not with exactly the same meaning.

• ved huset means by the house or at the house
• ved siden af huset means next to the house

So ved siden af huset is more precise. It tells you the bike shed is beside the house, not just somewhere near it.

Yes. I means in and is the natural choice for being inside enclosed spaces like a garage or a shed.

So:

• i garagen = in the garage
• i cykelskuret = in the bike shed

That works just like English here.

Yes, people would understand you, and it is not grammatically wrong. But står is more idiomatic and more natural in this situation.

Why? Because Danish often describes the physical position of an object:

• a bike står
• a book may ligger
• a person may sidder or står, depending on posture

So er is more general, while står sounds more like natural Danish.

The structure is:

• Min cykel = subject
• står = finite verb
• ikke = negation
• i garagen = first location
• men i cykelskuret = contrasting location
• ved siden af huset = phrase describing where the bike shed is

So the sentence pattern is roughly:

• subject + verb + not + place, but + other place + location detail

That is a very useful model for similar Danish sentences.

Yes, it is a normal and useful word, especially in contexts involving homes, apartment buildings, schools, or workplaces where bicycles are stored.

Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• bike shed
• bicycle shed
• sometimes bike storage shed

So it is a practical everyday compound noun.

They are:

• en cykel = a bicycle
• en garage = a garage
• et skur = a shed
• et cykelskur = a bike shed
• et hus = a house

And their definite forms here are:

• cyklen = the bicycle
• garagen = the garage
• skuret = the shed
• cykelskuret = the bike shed
• huset = the house

This is a good sentence for seeing both common gender and neuter nouns in action.