Min søn nikker, men han sukker igen, da fjernsynet stadig ikke virker.

Min søn means my son.

In Danish, when you use a possessive word like min (my), the noun is usually indefinite, not definite. So:

• min søn = my son
• sønnen = the son

You normally do not combine min with the definite ending here. So min sønnen would be incorrect in standard Danish.

A few related forms:

• en søn = a son
• sønnen = the son
• min søn = my son

Also, min is used because søn is a common-gender noun (en søn).

Because they are all in the present tense.

In Danish, the present tense is usually formed by adding -r to the infinitive:

• at nikke = to nod → nikker = nods / is nodding
• at sukke = to sigh → sukker = sighs / is sighing
• at virke = to work / function → virker = works / is working

So in this sentence:

• Min søn nikker = My son nods / is nodding
• han sukker igen = he sighs again
• fjernsynet ... virker = the television ... works / is working

Danish present tense often covers both English simple present and present progressive, depending on context.

Yes, sukker can mean sugar, but here it is clearly a verb.

There are two different words:

• sukker = sugar (noun)
• sukker = sighs (verb form of at sukke)

In this sentence, han sukker igen means he sighs again, because:

• han is a subject pronoun
• sukker follows it like a verb
• igen fits naturally with a verb phrase

So context tells you which meaning is intended.

Because Danish, like English, often uses a pronoun to avoid repetition.

So instead of saying:

• Min søn nikker, men min søn sukker igen ...

it is much more natural to say:

• Min søn nikker, men han sukker igen ...

This works exactly like English:

• My son nods, but he sighs again ...

Once min søn has been introduced, han is the natural follow-up pronoun.

Igen means again.

So:

• han sukker igen = he sighs again

Its placement is normal Danish word order. It comes after the verb here, just as again often can in English:

• He sighs again

Danish adverb placement can vary a bit depending on the sentence structure, but verb + igen is very common and natural.

Here da introduces a subordinate clause and means something like:

• when
• as
• since

In this sentence, da gives the reason or situation connected to the sighing:

• ... da fjernsynet stadig ikke virker
• ... when / as / since the television still isn’t working

Exactly which English word sounds best depends on context.

Important: this da is not the same as English then. Learners sometimes confuse it because in some contexts da can refer to time in the past, but here it is functioning as a conjunction introducing a clause.

Because after da, you have a subordinate clause, and Danish subordinate clauses usually do not follow the usual main-clause verb-second pattern.

Main clause word order often looks like this:

• Fjernsynet virker stadig ikke.
• The finite verb virker comes early.

But in a subordinate clause after da, the word order is typically:

• da fjernsynet stadig ikke virker

So the subject comes before the verb, and adverbs like stadig and ikke appear before the finite verb.

This is one of the most important word-order differences in Danish:

• Main clause: verb usually in second position
• Subordinate clause: verb comes later

Stadig ikke means still not.

So:

• fjernsynet stadig ikke virker = the television still isn’t working

The two words have different jobs:

• stadig = still
• ikke = not

Together they express that something has continued not to happen up to now.

Compare:

• Fjernsynet virker ikke. = The television doesn’t work.
• Fjernsynet virker stadig ikke. = The television still doesn’t work.

So stadig adds the sense of persistence or frustration.

Because fjernsynet is the definite form, meaning the television.

Danish often adds the definite article as an ending on the noun:

• et fjernsyn = a television
• fjernsynet = the television

Here the speaker is talking about a specific TV already known in the situation, so the definite form is used.

This is very common in Danish:

• en bil = a car → bilen = the car
• et hus = a house → huset = the house
• et fjernsyn = a television → fjernsynet = the television

Here virker means works or is functioning.

The verb at virke has several meanings depending on context, including:

• to work / function
• to seem / appear
• to have an effect

In this sentence, because the subject is fjernsynet (the television), the meaning is clearly:

• works
• is working
• is functioning

So fjernsynet stadig ikke virker means the television still isn’t working.

Because Danish uses commas to separate clauses, and this sentence contains multiple clauses.

The structure is:

• Min søn nikker
• men han sukker igen
• da fjernsynet stadig ikke virker

So you have:

1. a main clause: Min søn nikker
2. another main clause joined by men: men han sukker igen
3. a subordinate clause introduced by da: da fjernsynet stadig ikke virker

In written Danish, commas are commonly used to mark these clause boundaries. The comma before men is especially straightforward, since men means but and joins two main clauses.

Sometimes yes, but the nuance changes a little.

• da can mean since / as / when
• fordi means because

If you say:

• ... da fjernsynet stadig ikke virker

it can sound a bit like the TV still not working is the situation or reason in the background.

If you say:

• ... fordi fjernsynet stadig ikke virker

that is a more direct because the television still isn’t working.

So both can be possible in many contexts, but da may sound slightly softer or more contextual, while fordi is more explicitly causal.

Yes. Danish uses the present tense here.

• nikker = nods / is nodding
• sukker = sighs / is sighing
• virker = works / is working

Danish often does not need a separate progressive form like English is working. The plain present tense is enough.

So fjernsynet stadig ikke virker can naturally correspond to:

• the television still doesn’t work
• the television still isn’t working

Both are possible English translations, depending on context.

It has three parts:

1. Min søn nikker
   = main clause

2. men han sukker igen
   = another main clause connected with men (but)

3. da fjernsynet stadig ikke virker
   = subordinate clause giving the reason/background

So the sentence is built like this:

• [main clause], but [main clause], when/as/since [subordinate clause].

This is a useful pattern to notice because it shows two important things at once:

• how men joins main clauses
• how da introduces a subordinate clause with different word order