Min søster siger, at hendes mand nok skal rydde bordet, hvis jeg laver te.

Because at is the conjunction that.

In Danish, after verbs like sige (to say), tro (to think), mene (to mean/think), and many others, you often introduce the following clause with at:

• Min søster siger, at ...
• My sister says that ...

Just like in English, that can sometimes be left out in everyday speech, and Danish can also omit at in some cases. But in learner examples, it is very commonly included because it makes the structure clearer.

This is a very common Danish question.

Danish uses sin/sit/sine for a reflexive possessive, but only when it refers back to the subject of the same clause.

Here, in the clause:

• at hendes mand nok skal rydde bordet

the subject is mand? Actually, the grammatical subject of that clause is hendes mand as a whole, and the possessor is hendes, referring to min søster from the main clause.

Because the possessor does not refer to the subject of that same clause, Danish uses hendes, not sin.

Compare:

• Min søster siger, at hendes mand kommer.
  = My sister says that her husband is coming.
  Here her refers to my sister, not to the subject inside the subordinate clause.

But:

• Min søster vasker sin bil.
  = My sister washes her own car.
  Here sin refers back to min søster, the subject of the same clause.

So the short rule is:

• sin/sit/sine = the subject owns it, in the same clause
• hans/hendes/deres = someone else owns it, or the reference crosses a clause boundary

Because this is a subordinate clause.

In a main clause, Danish usually has the finite verb in second position, so you would normally say:

• Hendes mand skal nok rydde bordet.

But after at, you are in a subordinate clause, and the word order changes. Sentence adverbs such as nok, ikke, vist, aldrig, and so on usually come before the finite verb:

• ... at hendes mand nok skal rydde bordet

So this contrast is important:

• Main clause: Han skal nok rydde bordet.
• Subordinate clause: ... at han nok skal rydde bordet.

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

Nok often means something like probably, likely, or surely, but together with skal it very often gives a reassuring or confident meaning.

So:

• Han skal nok rydde bordet

often means something like:

• He’ll clear the table, don’t worry
• He will take care of clearing the table
• He’ll probably clear the table
• He’s sure to clear the table

The exact shade depends on context and tone.

In this sentence, nok skal suggests confidence or reassurance more than simple future. It is not just a plain future statement. It sounds a bit like the speaker is saying that this can be relied on.

Yes, skal can mean must, shall, or indicate future, depending on context.

In Danish, modal verbs often cover several meanings. Here, skal does not sound like a strict command. In nok skal rydde bordet, it has more of a future/expected-action meaning:

• he will clear the table
• he’s going to clear the table

The presence of nok makes it sound less like obligation and more like expectation or reassurance.

So while skal can mean obligation in many sentences, here it is closer to a confident future meaning.

Yes. Rydde bordet means clear the table.

The verb rydde means to clear away, tidy up, or remove things. In this expression:

• rydde bordet = clear the table after a meal

Be careful not to confuse it with:

• dække bordet = set the table

So:

• dække bordet = put plates, cutlery, etc. on the table
• rydde bordet = remove them afterward

Because Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

So:

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

This is one of the big differences from English. Instead of a separate word like the, Danish often attaches the definiteness to the noun itself.

Other examples:

• en bil = a car
• bilen = the car
• et hus = a house
• huset = the house

So rydde bordet literally contains table-the, but in natural English that is just clear the table.

Because te here is being used as an uncountable noun, like tea in English.

• lave te = make tea

This is the normal way to say it when you mean preparing tea in general.

Compare:

• Jeg laver te. = I’m making tea.
• Jeg laver en te. = I’m making a tea / one tea.
  This is much less natural unless you really mean one serving.
• Jeg laver teen. = I’m making the tea.
  This would only make sense in a more specific context, where a particular tea has already been mentioned.

So in your sentence, laver te is the normal, general expression.

Because Danish often uses the present tense for future situations when the context already makes the time clear.

In the clause:

• hvis jeg laver te

the meaning is future: if I make tea.

English does something very similar:

• If I make tea, ... not
• If I will make tea, ...

So this is not unusual. The hvis clause naturally refers to a future possibility, even though the verb is present tense.

Danish often relies on context, time words, or modal verbs like skal, vil, and kan rather than using a special future tense.

Yes, in this sentence hvis means if.

• hvis jeg laver te = if I make tea

It introduces a condition.

A useful comparison:

• hvis = if
• når = when

So:

• Hvis jeg laver te = If I make tea
  maybe I will, maybe I won’t
• Når jeg laver te = When I make tea
  this is expected or assumed to happen

That difference is very important in Danish.

In everyday spoken Danish, you may hear at omitted in some sentences, so something like that can occur in speech.

However, for learners and in standard written Danish, at is the safest and clearest choice:

• Min søster siger, at hendes mand nok skal rydde bordet, hvis jeg laver te.

Also notice that if you omit at, the word order may feel more main-clause-like to some speakers, but the standard written pattern in your sentence is the one with at and subordinate-clause word order:

• ... at hendes mand nok skal rydde bordet ...

So for learning purposes, it is best to keep at and learn the subordinate word order that goes with it.

It has three parts:

1. Main clause

   • Min søster siger
   • My sister says

2. at-clause

   • at hendes mand nok skal rydde bordet
   • that her husband will probably / will surely clear the table

3. hvis-clause

   • hvis jeg laver te
   • if I make tea

So the full structure is:

• [Main clause] + [that-clause] + [if-clause]

This is useful because Danish word order depends on which kind of clause you are in. The main clause and the subordinate clauses follow different patterns.