Det tager kun et kvarter at cykle til universitetet, hvis der ikke er meget trafik.

In det tager kun et kvarter ..., det is a dummy subject. Danish often uses det in expressions about time, weather, distance, and similar general statements.

So det tager ... means it takes ..., just like in English:

• Det tager fem minutter. = It takes five minutes.
• Det tager lang tid. = It takes a long time.

Here, det does not refer to a specific thing.

Danish uses tage in the same way English uses take for time needed to do something.

• Det tager kun et kvarter ... = It only takes a quarter of an hour ...

This is a very common pattern:

• Det tager en time at læse bogen. = It takes an hour to read the book.
• Hvor lang tid tager det? = How long does it take?

Kun means only.

In Det tager kun et kvarter ..., it modifies et kvarter:

• kun et kvarter = only a quarter of an hour

Its placement is normal in Danish. It comes before the part it limits or emphasizes.

Compare:

• Det tager kun et kvarter. = It only takes a quarter of an hour.
• Det tager et kvarter kun would sound unnatural here.

Et kvarter means a quarter of an hour, so 15 minutes.

A few useful related expressions:

• et kvarter = 15 minutes
• tre kvarter = 45 minutes
• en halv time = half an hour
• en time = one hour

It uses et because kvarter is a neuter noun.

Because after det tager ..., Danish uses an infinitive phrase to say what action takes time.

So:

• at cykle = to cycle / to bike

The structure is:

• Det tager [time] at + infinitive

Examples:

• Det tager ti minutter at gå derhen. = It takes ten minutes to walk there.
• Det tager lang tid at lære dansk. = It takes a long time to learn Danish.

So at cykle is completely normal here.

Til means to, and it is the normal preposition for movement toward a destination.

• cykle til universitetet = cycle to the university

Universitetet is the definite form of universitet:

• et universitet = a university
• universitetet = the university

So this phrase literally means to the university.

Danish often uses the definite form when the place is understood from context as a specific one.

So til universitetet means to the university, probably the one relevant to the speaker or situation.

Compare:

• Jeg studerer på universitetet. = I study at the university.
• Der ligger et universitet i byen. = There is a university in the city.

The indefinite form would sound less natural here unless you meant to some university, not a specific one.

Hvis means if and introduces a condition.

So:

• hvis der ikke er meget trafik = if there isn’t much traffic

This tells you that the travel time is true under a certain condition.

Do not confuse hvis with når:

• hvis = if
• når = when

Here it is a condition, so hvis is the right choice.

This is because hvis der ikke er meget trafik is a subordinate clause.

In Danish subordinate clauses, words like ikke usually come before the finite verb.

So:

• Main clause: Der er ikke meget trafik.
• Subordinate clause: ..., hvis der ikke er meget trafik.

This is one of the most important Danish word-order patterns to learn.

Here der works like English there in expressions such as there is / there are.

So:

• der er meget trafik = there is a lot of traffic

This is called an existential construction.

More examples:

• Der er en bog på bordet. = There is a book on the table.
• Der er mange mennesker her. = There are many people here.

So in this sentence, der does not mean there as a location. It is part of the there is/are structure.

Because trafik is usually treated as an uncountable noun in Danish, just like traffic in English.

With uncountable nouns, Danish uses meget:

• meget trafik = much / a lot of traffic

With countable plural nouns, Danish uses mange:

• mange biler = many cars
• mange mennesker = many people

So:

• meget trafik is correct
• mange trafik is incorrect

It can match both to cycle and to bike in English.

In everyday English, many learners would naturally translate it as to bike. In more neutral or dictionary-style English, to cycle is often used.

So at cykle til universitetet can be understood as:

• to cycle to the university
• to bike to the university

Both are good equivalents.

Yes, but the structure would be different.

• Det tager kun et kvarter at cykle til universitetet.
• Det tager kun et kvarter at komme til universitetet på cykel.

Both are natural, but they focus slightly differently:

• at cykle directly names the action: to bike
• på cykel means by bike and usually goes with another verb, such as komme or tage

So you usually would not replace at cykle with just på cykel without adjusting the rest of the sentence.