Barnet begynder at græde, når hun mister sin bog.

In Danish, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of standing as a separate word.

• barn = child
• barnet = the child

The ending -et is the definite ending for many neuter nouns.

So instead of saying the child as two words, Danish often says it as one word: barnet.

This is a very common question.

Barnet is grammatically neuter, so the noun itself takes the neuter definite ending -et. But grammatical gender and natural gender are not always the same thing.

If the speaker knows the child is a girl, they can refer to the child as hun.

So:

• barnet = grammatically neuter noun
• hun = natural female pronoun

If the child’s sex were unknown or irrelevant, Danish might use det in some contexts, because barn is a neuter noun. But if the child is specifically a girl, hun is completely natural.

After begynde in this kind of structure, Danish normally uses at before the infinitive.

So:

• begynder at græde = begins to cry

This is similar to English to cry.

A useful pattern is:

• begynde at + infinitive

Examples:

• Hun begynder at læse. = She begins to read.
• Barnet begynder at græde. = The child begins to cry.

Græde is the infinitive form of the verb, meaning to cry.

In Danish, infinitives often end in -e, and after at you normally use the infinitive:

• at græde = to cry

So in begynder at græde, the first verb is the finite verb (begynder) and the second verb stays in the infinitive (græde).

Here, når means when.

It introduces a clause about something that happens regularly, generally, or whenever a situation occurs.

So når hun mister sin bog means when she loses her book / whenever she loses her book.

This is different from da, which is often used for a specific past when.

A rough contrast:

• når = when / whenever, general or repeated situations
• da = when, at a specific time in the past

Because Danish uses a reflexive possessive when the possessor is the subject of the same clause.

In the clause når hun mister sin bog:

• subject = hun
• the book belongs to hun

So Danish uses sin.

This is one of the most important differences from English.

• sin/sit/sine = his/her/its/their own
• hendes = her, but usually someone else’s from the point of view of the subject

Compare:

• Hun mister sin bog. = She loses her own book.
• Hun mister hendes bog. = She loses her book, where her probably refers to another female person.

So sin is the correct choice here.

The form depends on the noun that follows, not on the person.

Here the noun is bog, and bog is a common gender singular noun.

So the correct form is:

• sin
  • common gender singular noun
• sit
  • neuter singular noun
• sine
  • plural noun

Examples:

• sin bog = his/her own book
• sit barn = his/her own child
• sine bøger = his/her own books

Mister is the normal verb for loses in the sense of no longer having something.

• miste = to lose

So:

• hun mister sin bog = she loses her book

Tabe can also mean lose, but it is often used in other senses too, such as dropping something or losing a game/competition, depending on context.

For possession loss, miste is very common and natural.

They are both in the Danish present tense:

• begynder = begins
• mister = loses

Danish present tense is often used for:

1. things happening now
2. habitual or repeated actions
3. general statements

With når, the sentence often sounds like a general pattern:

• whenever she loses her book, the child starts crying

So the present tense works well here.

Because når hun mister sin bog is a subordinate clause, and Danish normally places a comma before subordinate clauses.

So the comma marks the break between:

• main clause: Barnet begynder at græde
• subordinate clause: når hun mister sin bog

Danish comma rules can feel stronger or more regular than English comma habits, so learners often notice this quickly.

The main clause is:

• Barnet = subject
• begynder = finite verb
• at græde = infinitive phrase

So the structure is basically:

• Subject + verb + infinitive phrase

Then comes the subordinate clause:

• når hun mister sin bog

Inside that subordinate clause, the order is also straightforward here:

• hun = subject
• mister = verb
• sin bog = object

So overall the sentence is quite regular in structure.

Yes. Danish can front the subordinate clause.

For example:

• Når hun mister sin bog, begynder barnet at græde.

That is also correct.

Notice that when the sentence starts with the subordinate clause, the finite verb in the main clause still comes early:

• Når hun mister sin bog, begynder barnet at græde.

This follows the Danish V2 principle in main clauses: the finite verb is in the second position of the main clause.

Yes, many English speakers find it tricky.

Things to notice:

• gr at the start can be pronounced smoothly together
• æ is a front vowel that does not exist exactly like this in English
• the final -de in Danish verbs is often much softer than English speakers expect

You do not need to pronounce every letter very strongly. In natural Danish, the word is smoother and less sharply articulated than an English speaker might first guess.

The most important thing is to recognize it as the infinitive form at græde.