Hun bruger næsten et kvarter på at vælge brød i bageriet.

That is a very common point of confusion.

Bruge does often mean to use, but it can also mean to spend, especially with time or money.

So in this sentence:

• Hun bruger næsten et kvarter ...
• literally: She uses almost a quarter of an hour ...
• naturally: She spends almost fifteen minutes ...

This is a normal Danish pattern:

• bruge tid på noget / på at gøre noget = spend time on something / doing something
• bruge penge på noget = spend money on something

So bruger is just the present tense of bruge.

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

A few useful time expressions:

• et kvarter = a quarter of an hour = 15 minutes
• en halv time = half an hour = 30 minutes
• tre kvarter = three quarters of an hour = 45 minutes

Why et? Because kvarter is a neuter noun in this meaning.

So:

• et kvarter
• kvarteret = the quarter-hour / the 15-minute period

Because Danish often uses the pattern:

• bruge tid på at + infinitive
• spend time doing something

So:

• Hun bruger et kvarter på at vælge brød
• literally: She spends a quarter of an hour on to choose bread
• natural English: She spends fifteen minutes choosing bread

The på belongs to the expression bruge tid på ...

You can think of it as:

• bruge tid på noget = spend time on something
• bruge tid på at gøre noget = spend time doing something

So på at vælge is not random; it is part of the normal grammar after bruge tid.

Yes.

At vælge is the infinitive form, meaning to choose.

In the sentence:

• på at vælge

the word at marks the infinitive, just like to in English.

Some forms of vælge are:

• at vælge = to choose
• vælger = choose / chooses
• valgte = chose
• valgt = chosen

So here, vælge stays in the infinitive because it comes after at.

Because brød here is being used as an uncountable mass noun, like bread in English.

So:

• vælge brød = choose bread
• købe brød = buy bread
• spise brød = eat bread

This is similar to English, where you usually say buy bread, not buy a bread.

If you mean a loaf or a specific piece/type of bread, then Danish can use an article, for example:

• et brød = a loaf / a bread item
• et rugbrød = a rye loaf

So in this sentence, brød is general: she is choosing bread, not necessarily one single loaf.

Because bageriet is the definite form of bageri.

• et bageri = a bakery
• bageriet = the bakery

In Danish, the definite article is often added as an ending instead of being a separate word.

So:

• en bil = a car → bilen = the car
• et hus = a house → huset = the house
• et bageri = a bakery → bageriet = the bakery

In this sentence, i bageriet means in the bakery or at the bakery.

That is one of the basic features of Danish.

In many cases, Danish makes nouns definite by adding an ending:

• -en for many common-gender nouns
• -et for many neuter nouns

Examples:

• en stol → stolen = the chair
• et bord → bordet = the table
• et bageri → bageriet = the bakery

English uses a separate word, the, but Danish usually attaches definiteness directly to the noun.

There are also cases where Danish uses a separate determiner too, especially with adjectives, but in this sentence you only need the simple definite noun form: bageriet.

Yes, both are possible, but they are slightly different.

• i bageriet = in the bakery / inside the bakery shop
• hos bageren = at the baker’s / at the baker’s place

So your sentence focuses on the location as a shop or bakery space:

• Hun bruger næsten et kvarter på at vælge brød i bageriet.

If you said:

• Hun bruger næsten et kvarter på at vælge brød hos bageren.

that would also sound natural, but it emphasizes being at the baker’s place rather than specifically inside the bakery.

The sentence follows normal Danish main-clause word order:

• Hun = subject
• bruger = verb
• næsten et kvarter = time expression / object-like phrase
• på at vælge brød i bageriet = prepositional phrase explaining what the time is spent on

So the structure is roughly:

• Subject + finite verb + rest

Danish main clauses usually have the finite verb in second position.

That is why:

• Hun bruger næsten et kvarter ...

If you move another element to the front, the verb still stays second:

• I bageriet bruger hun næsten et kvarter på at vælge brød.

That verb-second pattern is very important in Danish.

In this sentence, på at vælge is the normal and best choice.

That is because the fixed pattern is:

• bruge tid på at gøre noget

By contrast, bruge ... til at ... often means use something for doing something:

• Hun bruger en kniv til at skære brød.
• She uses a knife to cut bread.

So:

• bruge tid på at vælge brød = spend time choosing bread
• bruge noget til at vælge brød would suggest using some tool or thing in order to choose bread

So for time spent, choose på at, not til at.

Næsten means almost, and here it modifies et kvarter.

So:

• næsten et kvarter = almost a quarter of an hour
• in natural English: almost fifteen minutes

It tells you the length of time is just under fifteen minutes.

You could compare:

• Hun bruger et kvarter ... = She spends fifteen minutes ...
• Hun bruger næsten et kvarter ... = She spends almost fifteen minutes ...

So næsten belongs with the time phrase.