Jeg kan ikke huske, hvilket bogstav hun glemte, men betydningen af sætningen var stadig klar.

Because bogstav is a neuter noun in Danish: et bogstav.

The question word which changes form to match the noun:

• hvilken for common gender nouns
• hvilket for neuter nouns
• hvilke for plural

So:

• hvilken bil = which car
• hvilket bogstav = which letter
• hvilke bøger = which books

Since bogstav is neuter, hvilket is the correct form.

In Danish, every noun has a grammatical gender. You learn it together with the article:

• en for common gender
• et for neuter

So you should learn the word as et bogstav, not just bogstav.

That is why other words in the sentence agree with it:

• et bogstav
• hvilket bogstav

This is something English speakers often have to memorize, because English does not mark noun gender this way.

This is an embedded question or indirect question.

In English:

• direct question: Which letter did she forget?
• indirect question: I don’t remember which letter she forgot.

Danish works similarly:

• direct question: Hvilket bogstav glemte hun?
• indirect question: Jeg kan ikke huske, hvilket bogstav hun glemte.

Notice that in the indirect version, Danish uses normal subordinate-clause word order, so hun glemte instead of glemte hun.

Because this part is a subordinate clause, not a main question.

Danish main clauses usually follow verb-second order, but subordinate clauses generally do not. In subordinate clauses, the subject usually comes before the finite verb.

So compare:

• main question: Hvilket bogstav glemte hun?
• subordinate clause: ... hvilket bogstav hun glemte

That is one of the most important word-order differences for learners.

Because hvilket itself introduces the subordinate clause.

Danish often uses at for clauses like that in English:

• Jeg ved, at hun kom. = I know that she came.

But when the clause begins with a question word such as:

• hvad = what
• hvem = who
• hvor = where
• hvilket = which

you do not use at.

So:

• Jeg kan ikke huske, hvilket bogstav hun glemte. not
• Jeg kan ikke huske, at hvilket bogstav hun glemte.

Yes. Word by word:

• jeg = I
• kan = can
• ikke = not
• huske = remember

So jeg kan ikke huske literally means I cannot remember or I can’t remember.

In natural English, you might also say I don’t remember, but Danish often uses kan ikke huske in places where English would use either expression.

In a main clause, Danish usually places the finite verb early in the sentence, and ikke often comes after that verb.

So:

• Jeg kan ikke huske ...

This is very common with modal verbs:

• Jeg vil ikke gå. = I do not want to go.
• Hun må ikke ryge. = She must not smoke.
• Vi kan ikke komme. = We cannot come.

For English speakers, this can feel different because English puts not after an auxiliary, while Danish has its own fixed word-order pattern.

Both are possible in Danish.

This sentence uses:

• betydningen af sætningen = the meaning of the sentence

But you could also say:

• sætningens betydning

The first version, with af, is often a little more neutral and transparent for learners. The second uses the Danish -s genitive structure.

So these are both acceptable:

• betydningen af sætningen
• sætningens betydning

The choice is often about style and rhythm rather than strict grammar.

Because the sentence refers to a specific meaning and a specific sentence.

In Danish, definiteness is often shown by adding an ending to the noun:

• betydning = meaning

• betydningen = the meaning

• sætning = sentence
• sætningen = the sentence

So:

• betydningen af sætningen = the meaning of the sentence

English uses a separate word, the. Danish often uses a suffix instead.

Here af means of.

So:

• betydningen af sætningen = the meaning of the sentence

It links the two nouns in a way that is very similar to English of.

Because var describes a state, while blev usually describes a change into a state.

• var klar = was clear
• blev klar = became clear

In this sentence, the idea is that the meaning remained clear the whole time, despite the forgotten letter. So var stadig klar is the natural choice.

Here stadig means still.

So:

• var stadig klar = was still clear

It tells you that even after the problem with the letter, the meaning did not become unclear.

Be careful: stadig can sometimes also mean something like continually or yet, depending on context, but here still is the best match.

Because men is a coordinating conjunction, like but in English. It links two main clauses.

So the second part is another main clause:

• men betydningen af sætningen var stadig klar

That clause follows normal Danish main-clause order, with the finite verb in second position:

1. betydningen af sætningen
2. var

If another element had been placed first, then the subject would move after the verb, but that does not happen here.

The comma before men is standard because men joins two main clauses.

The earlier comma separates the main clause from the subordinate clause:

• Jeg kan ikke huske, hvilket bogstav hun glemte, men ...

Danish comma rules can be tricky, and you may see some variation depending on whether someone follows traditional grammatical comma rules or newer optional styles. But in a sentence like this, the commas are very normal and helpful.

Yes, often you can.

• Jeg kan ikke huske = I can’t remember
• Jeg husker ikke = I don’t remember

Both are natural in many contexts. The version with kan ikke huske is extremely common in everyday Danish and often sounds very natural when talking about memory failure in the moment.

No. Klar can also mean clear in the sense of easy to understand.

So here:

• betydningen ... var stadig klar

means the meaning was still understandable or unambiguous.

This is very similar to English, where clear can refer both to physical visibility and to understandable meaning.