Kan De stave Deres navn langsomt, så jeg hører hvert bogstav?

Kan literally means can.

In this sentence, Kan De stave Deres navn langsomt ...? literally means Can you spell your name slowly ...?

But in real use, it often works like a polite request, similar to English:

• Can you spell your name slowly?
• Could you spell your name slowly?

So yes, it is grammatically a question, but functionally it is also a polite request.

They are capitalized because they are the formal forms of you and your in Danish:

• De = formal you
• Deres = formal your

The capital letter helps distinguish them from other words and marks polite, respectful address.

This is especially common in more traditional or formal language. In everyday modern Danish, people usually use du and din/dit/dine instead.

So the informal version would usually be:

• Kan du stave dit navn langsomt, så jeg hører hvert bogstav?

Yes, but much less than before.

Modern spoken Danish usually prefers the informal du. The formal De can sound:

• polite
• distant
• old-fashioned
• very formal

You may still see or hear it in:

• customer service in especially formal contexts
• older writing
• letters
• historical settings
• speech meant to sound especially respectful

For most everyday situations in Denmark today, du is normal.

Stave means to spell.

So:

• at stave = to spell
• Kan De stave Deres navn? = Can you spell your name?

This verb is commonly used when asking someone to spell:

• a name
• an address
• a word
• an email address

Because this is a question.

In Danish main clauses, the finite verb usually comes second. In a yes/no question, the verb often comes before the subject:

• De kan stave Deres navn. = You can spell your name.
• Kan De stave Deres navn? = Can you spell your name?

So:

• Kan = verb
• De = subject

That inversion is normal in Danish questions.

Langsomt means slowly.

It comes from the adjective langsom = slow.

Here it functions as an adverb, describing how the person should spell the name:

• stave ... langsomt = spell ... slowly

English often uses -ly to make adverbs. Danish often uses the -t form of an adjective in this kind of role.

Compare:

• en langsom person = a slow person
• tal langsomt = speak slowly

Here så means so that.

The phrase:

• så jeg hører hvert bogstav

means:

• so that I hear every letter

It introduces the purpose or intended result of speaking slowly.

So the whole sentence is basically:

• Can you spell your name slowly, so that I hear every letter?

In more natural English, you might say so I can hear every letter, but the Danish sentence literally says so that I hear every letter.

Both ideas are possible, but they are slightly different.

• så jeg hører hvert bogstav = so that I hear every letter
• så jeg kan høre hvert bogstav = so that I can hear every letter

The version in your sentence focuses on the desired result: I hear every letter.

Adding kan would emphasize ability: I am able to hear every letter.

In practice, both can make sense, but your sentence is completely normal and idiomatic.

Hører is the present tense of at høre = to hear.

So:

• jeg hører = I hear
• du hører = you hear
• vi hører = we hear

Danish present tense often ends in -r.

In this sentence:

• så jeg hører hvert bogstav = so that I hear every letter

It is present tense because Danish often uses the present in this kind of clause where English might also use the present.

Hvert bogstav means each letter or every letter.

Breakdown:

• hvert = each / every for a neuter singular noun
• bogstav = letter (of the alphabet)

So the speaker wants to hear the spelling clearly, one letter at a time.

Because bogstav is a neuter noun in Danish.

Danish common singular forms:

• hver for common-gender nouns
• hvert for neuter nouns

Since:

• et bogstav = a letter

the noun is neuter, so Danish uses:

• hvert bogstav

Compare:

• hver dag = every day because dag is a common-gender noun
• hvert bogstav = every letter because bogstav is a neuter noun

Yes, it matters.

Both are neuter nouns:

• et navn = a name
• et bogstav = a letter

This affects other words in the sentence.

For example:

• Deres navn = your name
• hvert bogstav = every letter

Especially with hvert, the neuter gender is important.

If the noun were common gender, you would not use hvert.

Because the sentence is talking about the ideas in a general or possessed way, not introducing them as indefinite nouns.

• Deres navn = your name
  No article is needed because your already specifies it.

• hvert bogstav = every letter
  Words like every/each do not take an article in English either, and the same kind of idea applies in Danish.

So this is normal:

• Deres navn
• hvert bogstav

not:

• et Deres navn
• et hvert bogstav

The usual informal version would be:

• Kan du stave dit navn langsomt, så jeg hører hvert bogstav?

Changes:

• De → du
• Deres → dit because navn is a neuter noun: et navn

So:

• formal: Kan De stave Deres navn ...?
• informal: Kan du stave dit navn ...?

A rough pronunciation is something like STAY-vuh, but that is only approximate.

A few points for English speakers:

• The a is not exactly like English a.
• The final e is usually a weak vowel, like uh.
• Danish pronunciation is often softer and less sharply pronounced than English spelling suggests.

So stave sounds roughly like:

• STEH-və or STEY-və

depending on how broad the approximation is.

If you are learning pronunciation, it is better to listen to native audio, because English-based approximations can only go so far.

A very rough English-style approximation could be:

Kan Dee STAY-vuh DAIR-es navn LANG-sumt, saw yai HUR var't BOH-stav?

But this is only a guide for orientation, not real phonetic accuracy.

A few pronunciation notes:

• De sounds roughly like dee
• Deres is roughly DAIR-es or DEH-res, depending on the speaker
• jeg is often pronounced more like yai or ya
• hører has a vowel sound that English does not match very well
• hvert is tricky and often sounds much less fully pronounced than English speakers expect
• bogstav is pronounced more like BOH-stav than the spelling may suggest

Danish pronunciation is often much less phonetic than learners expect from the spelling.

Yes, it is natural, especially in a formal context.

It sounds like something you might say when:

• taking down a person’s name
• checking a registration
• handling a phone call
• working at a desk or reception

The only thing that may stand out in modern Danish is the formal De / Deres, which makes it more polite and formal than everyday speech.

In everyday modern conversation, most people would say:

• Kan du stave dit navn langsomt, så jeg hører hvert bogstav?

Yes. You could say:

• Kan De venligst stave Deres navn langsomt, så jeg hører hvert bogstav?

That means something like:

• Could you please spell your name slowly, so that I hear every letter?

But Danish often sounds polite enough without adding venligst, especially when using De already.

So venligst can make it more formal or more explicitly polite, but it is not necessary.