Forsinkelsen skyldes den tætte trafik i morges.

Because forsinkelsen is the definite singular form of forsinkelse, meaning delay.

• en forsinkelse = a delay
• forsinkelsen = the delay

In Danish, the idea of the is often added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

Here, skyldes means is due to, is caused by, or results from.

The basic verb is skylde, which often means to owe, but in this structure:

• X skyldes Y = X is due to Y

So:

• Forsinkelsen skyldes den tætte trafik
  = The delay is due to the heavy traffic

The -s is a very common Danish passive ending.

So skyldes is basically a passive form of skylde. Literally, it is something like is owed to or is attributable to, but in natural English it is usually just is due to or is caused by.

This is a very normal and common way to express cause in Danish.

Because trafik is a common-gender noun in Danish.

Danish has two genders:

• common gender → uses en / den
• neuter → uses et / det

Since it is:

• en trafik or more naturally just trafik
• therefore den tætte trafik

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

Because when a noun has a definite meaning and is modified by an adjective, Danish normally uses:

• den/det/de + adjective + noun

So:

• trafikken = the traffic
• den tætte trafik = the heavy/dense traffic

In other words, once you add the adjective tætte, you normally use den before the phrase instead of just putting the definite ending on the noun by itself.

Because adjectives usually take -e in front of a definite noun phrase.

Compare:

• tæt trafik = heavy/dense traffic
• den tætte trafik = the heavy/dense traffic

So the -e on tætte is there because the noun phrase is definite.

Literally, tæt means dense, close, or packed, but with traffic it means heavy traffic, dense traffic, or congested traffic.

So den tætte trafik is not about cars being emotionally close to each other—it is the normal way to describe a lot of traffic on the road.

I morges means this morning, specifically earlier today.

It is a fixed expression. A very important thing for learners is not to confuse it with:

• i morgen = tomorrow
• i morges = this morning

They look very similar, but they mean completely different things.

Also compare:

• om morgenen = in the morning / in the mornings (general or habitual)
• i morges = this morning (today)

Yes, sometimes you can, depending on the context.

• skyldes = present tense
• skyldtes = past tense

The sentence with skyldes is very natural if you are explaining the reason for the delay now:

• Forsinkelsen skyldes den tætte trafik i morges.

If you are telling a story fully in the past, skyldtes can also work:

• Forsinkelsen skyldtes den tætte trafik i morges.

So both are possible, but skyldes is very common when giving an explanation in the present.

Not especially. The sentence follows normal Danish main-clause order:

• Forsinkelsen = subject
• skyldes = finite verb
• den tætte trafik = cause/complement
• i morges = time expression

So the structure is quite close to English:

• The delay is due to the heavy traffic this morning

The main Danish rule in ordinary statements is that the finite verb comes early in the clause, and here it is in the usual second position.

Yes. Even though trafik is usually treated like a mass/uncountable noun, it can still be definite in Danish.

So all of these are possible in the right context:

• trafik = traffic
• trafikken = the traffic
• den tætte trafik = the heavy traffic

This works much like English, where traffic is also usually uncountable, but you can still say the traffic.

The hardest words for many English speakers are usually skyldes, tætte, and morges.

A few useful points:

• skyldes: the y is a rounded vowel that English does not really have; the d is weak.
• tætte: the vowel is short, and the ending -e is lightly pronounced.
• morges: the g is not pronounced like the hard g in go.

If you want a rough learner-friendly guide, you can think of them approximately like:

• skyldes ≈ skyl-duhs
• tætte ≈ tet-uh
• morges ≈ mor-es

Those are only rough approximations, but they can help as a first step.