Den nye beboer i lejligheden over os spørger, hvor vaskeriet ligger.

Because beboer is a common-gender noun in Danish, not a neuter noun.

• en beboer = a resident
• so in the definite phrase, you use den, not det

Also, when an adjective comes before a definite noun, Danish usually uses:

• den/det/de + adjective + noun

So:

• den nye beboer = the new resident

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

Because adjectives normally take -e in a definite noun phrase.

Here, the phrase is definite because it means the new resident, not just a new resident.

Compare:

• en ny beboer = a new resident
• den nye beboer = the new resident

So the -e ending here is not mainly about plural; it is also used with definite forms.

Not exactly.

Beboer means resident / occupant / someone who lives there. It focuses on the fact that the person lives in the place.

A tenant is more specifically someone who rents a place, and in Danish that is often lejer.

So:

• beboer = resident / occupant
• lejer = tenant

In many contexts they may refer to the same person, but the meanings are not identical.

Because lejligheden means the apartment, while lejlighed means apartment in a more general sense.

Here the phrase is specific:

• the apartment above us

So Danish uses the definite form:

• lejligheden = the apartment

The full phrase is:

• i lejligheden over os = in the apartment above us

Because after a preposition like over, Danish uses an object pronoun, not a subject pronoun.

Compare the pronouns:

• vi = we (subject)
• os = us (object)

Since over is a preposition, Danish requires:

• over os = above us / over us

Just like English says above us, not above we.

In this sentence, it most naturally means above us.

So:

• lejligheden over os = the apartment above us

In English, over can sometimes sound more literal or spatial in a different way, but in Danish over is very normal for floors in a building.

Because Danish usually places a comma before a subordinate clause.

Here, hvor vaskeriet ligger is a subordinate clause functioning as an indirect question:

• spørger, hvor vaskeriet ligger
• asks where the laundry room is

Danish comma rules are generally more consistent about marking subordinate clauses than English.

Spørger is the present tense of spørge = to ask.

So:

• spørge = to ask
• spørger = asks / is asking

In this sentence:

• Den nye beboer ... spørger ...
• The new resident ... asks ...

Danish present tense is often formed by adding -r to the infinitive.

Because this is an indirect question, not a direct question.

In Danish:

• Direct question: Hvor ligger vaskeriet? = Where is the laundry room?
• Indirect question: ... spørger, hvor vaskeriet ligger. = ... asks where the laundry room is.

In subordinate clauses like this one, Danish normally keeps the verb after the subject:

• hvor + subject + verb
• hvor vaskeriet ligger

This is one of the most important word-order differences for English speakers learning Danish.

Here, vaskeriet most likely means the laundry room or the communal laundry facilities in a building.

The base noun is:

• et vaskeri

And the definite form is:

• vaskeriet = the laundry room / the laundry / the laundromat, depending on context

In a housing context like this one, it usually refers to the shared laundry room in the building.

Danish often uses ligge when talking about where something is located.

So:

• Hvor ligger vaskeriet? = Where is the laundry room?
• literally: Where does the laundry room lie?
• naturally: Where is the laundry room located?

This is very common with places, buildings, rooms, towns, and objects.

Examples:

• Skolen ligger tæt på stationen. = The school is near the station.
• Hvor ligger banken? = Where is the bank?

So ligger often corresponds to English is or is located.

It breaks down like this:

• Den nye beboer = the new resident
• i lejligheden over os = in the apartment above us
• spørger = asks
• hvor vaskeriet ligger = where the laundry room is

So the structure is:

• subject: Den nye beboer i lejligheden over os
• verb: spørger
• subordinate clause / indirect question: hvor vaskeriet ligger

A natural English pattern would be:

• The new resident in the apartment above us asks where the laundry room is.

Yes, it could, but the meaning would shift slightly.

• den nye beboer = the new resident
• den nye lejer = the new tenant

Use lejer if you want to emphasize that the person rents the apartment. Use beboer if you simply mean the person living there.

So both are possible in the right context, but they are not perfectly interchangeable.