Vaskepulveret står i skabet ved vaskemaskinen.

Because Danish usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

So:

• vaskepulver = vaske
  • pulver
• vaskemaskine = vaske
  • maskine

This is very normal in Danish. English often uses separate words, but Danish usually joins them. The definite ending then goes on the whole compound:

• vaskepulver → vaskepulveret
• vaskemaskine → vaskemaskinen

So vaskepulveret is literally something like washing-powder-the.

In Danish, the is often added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front.

In this sentence:

• vaskepulveret = the detergent / the washing powder
• skabet = the cupboard
• vaskemaskinen = the washing machine

This is called the suffixed definite article.

The basic pattern is:

• et skab = a cupboard
• skabet = the cupboard
• en vaskemaskine = a washing machine
• vaskemaskinen = the washing machine

That depends on the noun’s grammatical gender.

Danish has two main genders:

• common gender: usually takes definite -en or just -n
• neuter: usually takes definite -et

In this sentence:

• et vaskepulver → vaskepulveret
• et skab → skabet
• en vaskemaskine → vaskemaskinen

So vaskepulver and skab are neuter, which is why they take -et.

Vaskemaskine is common gender, so it takes -en. Because the word already ends in -e, you often just see -n added: vaskemaskine → vaskemaskinen.

This is a very common Danish feature. Danish often uses a position verb where English would simply use is.

Here, står literally means stands, but in everyday Danish it often means that something is positioned somewhere, especially if it is thought of as upright or placed there like a container, bottle, box, or package.

So:

• Vaskepulveret står i skabet sounds natural and idiomatic.
• Vaskepulveret er i skabet is possible, but less specific and often less natural in this kind of context.

English usually does not make this distinction as much, but Danish often does:

• står = stands / is standing / is placed upright
• ligger = lies / is lying
• sidder = sits / is attached / is located in a fixed way

Here ved means by, next to, or near.

So:

• i skabet = in the cupboard
• ved vaskemaskinen = by the washing machine

Together, i skabet ved vaskemaskinen means the detergent is in the cupboard that is by the washing machine.

So ved is giving extra location information.

In practice, it most naturally describes the cupboard.

So the idea is:

• the detergent
• is in the cupboard
• and that cupboard is by the washing machine

That is the most natural reading of the sentence.

Grammatically, the whole phrase i skabet ved vaskemaskinen works as the location of står, but inside that phrase, ved vaskemaskinen most naturally tells you which skab is meant.

The sentence follows normal Danish main-clause word order:

• Vaskepulveret = subject
• står = finite verb
• i skabet ved vaskemaskinen = adverbial of place

So the pattern is:

Subject + verb + location

That is very straightforward.

A useful thing to know is that Danish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb normally comes in the second position in main clauses. So if you move the location to the front, the verb still stays second:

• I skabet ved vaskemaskinen står vaskepulveret.

That is also correct, though less neutral.

Yes. In a yes/no question, the finite verb usually comes first:

• Står vaskepulveret i skabet ved vaskemaskinen?

That means Is the detergent in the cupboard by the washing machine?

So you can compare:

• Vaskepulveret står i skabet ved vaskemaskinen. = statement
• Står vaskepulveret i skabet ved vaskemaskinen? = yes/no question

This verb-first pattern is very common in Danish questions.