Lægen siger, at jeg skal strække min arm langsomt hver morgen.

Lægen means the doctor. Danish often uses the definite ending -en on the noun instead of a separate word like English the.

• en læge = a doctor
• lægen = the doctor

So the sentence is talking about a specific doctor, not just any doctor.

That -n is part of the Danish definite form. For many common-gender nouns, Danish adds -en to mean the.

Here:

• læge = doctor
• lægen = the doctor

This is a very common pattern in Danish.

Siger is the present tense of at sige = to say.

So:

• jeg siger = I say / I am saying
• lægen siger = the doctor says / is saying

In Danish, the present tense is often used where English might also use is saying, depending on context.

Here, at means that and introduces a subordinate clause:

• Lægen siger = The doctor says
• at jeg skal strække min arm langsomt hver morgen = that I must/should stretch my arm slowly every morning

So at connects the two parts of the sentence.

Because after at, Danish uses subordinate clause word order. In this clause, the subject usually comes before the verb:

• jeg = subject
• skal = finite verb
• strække = infinitive

So:

• at jeg skal strække... = that I must/should stretch...

This is normal Danish structure.

Skal usually means must, have to, or sometimes should, depending on context.

In this sentence, it expresses obligation or instruction:

• jeg skal strække min arm = I must / have to / am supposed to stretch my arm

Because the speaker is following medical advice, English might translate it in different natural ways, but skal clearly shows necessity.

Because skal is a modal verb, and modal verbs in Danish are followed by the infinitive of the main verb.

So:

• skal = must / have to
• strække = stretch

Together:

• skal strække = must stretch

This works much like English must stretch or have to stretch.

After a modal verb like skal, Danish uses the infinitive form of the main verb.

So:

• at strække = to stretch
• after skal, you use strække

Compare:

• Jeg strækker min arm = I stretch my arm
• Jeg skal strække min arm = I must stretch my arm

Min arm means my arm.

Danish usually uses a possessive word like min before the noun when saying my arm, your hand, etc.

• min arm = my arm
• armen = the arm

So if you want to say my arm, you normally say min arm, not armen.

Also, arme would be plural:

• arm = arm
• arme = arms

Because arm is a common-gender noun in Danish, and common-gender nouns take min for my.

• min
  • common gender noun
• mit
  • neuter noun
• mine
  • plural

So:

• min arm = my arm

For comparison:

• mit ben = my leg
• mine arme = my arms

Because langsomt is the adverb form of langsom.

• langsom = slow
• langsomt = slowly

In this sentence, it describes how the arm should be stretched, so Danish uses the adverb form:

• strække min arm langsomt = stretch my arm slowly

This -t adverb ending is very common.

Here langsomt comes after the object min arm:

• strække min arm langsomt

That is a very natural placement in Danish. It describes the action strække.

Danish word order with adverbs can vary somewhat, but this position is completely normal and clear.

Hver morgen means every morning, and it is a time expression. Time expressions often come near the end of the clause in Danish.

So:

• langsomt = slowly
• hver morgen = every morning

The order here sounds natural:

• ...strække min arm langsomt hver morgen

It means the action should happen every morning.

Yes, Danish often allows time expressions to move for emphasis.

For example, you could also say:

• Lægen siger, at jeg hver morgen skal strække min arm langsomt.

That still sounds natural, but the original version is simpler and very common.

A rough guide is LAY-yen, but the Danish æ sound is important and does not match English perfectly.

A few notes:

• læ- has an æ sound somewhat like the vowel in English cat, but not exactly
• -gen is pronounced softly, and the g is not a hard English g

A careful pronunciation will depend on dialect, but learners often hear something close to LAY-en / LEH-en.

A rough English-friendly guide is STREK-uh.

A few points:

• str- is pronounced much like English str
• æ is a front vowel, somewhat like the vowel in cat
• the final -e is a weak vowel, like uh

The exact Danish vowel quality is important, but STREK-uh is a useful approximation.

It is completely natural everyday Danish. Nothing in it is unusually formal.

It sounds like a normal sentence someone might say when talking about medical advice:

• Lægen siger, at jeg skal...

That is standard, natural Danish.