For to dage siden sad jeg på en bænk ved dammen og så en and svømme i det stille vand.

Yes. For to dage siden means two days ago.

A learner will often notice that this is more literal than English. Danish is using:

• for = ago / before
• to dage = two days
• siden = since / ago in this expression

So the whole phrase functions as a time expression: two days ago.

You may also see simply to dage siden, which is very common. The for can sound a bit more traditional, regional, or stylistic depending on context. The important thing is that the whole phrase tells you when the action happened.

This is because Danish follows the V2 rule in main clauses.

In a Danish main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second position. If you start with the subject, you get:

• Jeg sad på en bænk ...

But if you start with a different element, such as a time phrase, that element takes the first position, and the verb must still stay second:

• For to dage siden sad jeg på en bænk ...

So:

1. For to dage siden = first position
2. sad = second position
3. jeg = subject after the verb

This is one of the most important sentence-pattern differences between English and Danish.

Sad is the past tense of sidde, which means to sit.

So:

• sidde = to sit
• sidder = sit / am sitting
• sad = sat / was sitting
• siddet = sat

In this sentence, sad jeg på en bænk means I was sitting on a bench or I sat on a bench, depending on how naturally you want to translate it in English.

Yes. Så is the past tense of se, meaning to see.

Forms:

• se = to see
• ser = see / am seeing
• så = saw
• set = seen

So in the sentence:

• så en and svømme = saw a duck swim / swimming

A useful warning: så can also mean then or so in other contexts. Here, because it comes as a verb after og, it clearly means saw.

Yes. And means duck.

And en and means a duck because and is a common-gender noun in Danish, so it takes en, not et.

So:

• en and = a duck
• anden = the duck

This word can look funny to English speakers because and is also an English conjunction, but in Danish it is simply a noun.

These are two different prepositions, and they express different relationships.

• på en bænk = on a bench
• ved dammen = by the pond

So:

• på is used because you are sitting on the bench
• ved is used because the bench is by / near the pond

This is very natural Danish:

• sidde på en bænk
• stå ved et vindue
• bo ved havet

English speakers often need to learn these combinations case by case.

Dammen is the definite form of dam, meaning the pond.

In Danish, the definite article is usually added as an ending:

• en dam = a pond
• dammen = the pond

So instead of a separate word like English the, Danish often attaches it to the noun.

This is very common:

• en bænk = a bench
• bænken = the bench
• en and = a duck
• anden = the duck

Because after a verb of perception like se, Danish often uses the pattern:

se + object + infinitive

So:

• jeg så en and svømme = I saw a duck swim / swimming

Here:

• så is the main verb
• en and is the object
• svømme is the infinitive describing what the duck was doing

This is similar to English:

• I saw a duck swim
• I saw a duck swimming

Danish does not need at here. You say:

• jeg så den svømme not
• jeg så den at svømme

Because vand is a neuter noun, so it takes det in the definite form.

In Danish:

• common gender nouns take den
• neuter nouns take det

So:

• en bænk → den bænk
• et vand is not really how you normally use the noun in this meaning, but grammatically vand is neuter, so with an adjective in the definite phrase you get det stille vand

The structure here is:

• det = definite article for neuter
• stille = calm / still
• vand = water

So i det stille vand means in the still water.

Because in this kind of definite adjective phrase, the adjective usually takes -e.

Compare:

• stille vand = still water
• det stille vand = the still water

The -e form is very common when:

1. the noun phrase is definite, or
2. the adjective is plural

So this is normal:

• den gamle mand = the old man
• det stille vand = the still water
• de små børn = the small children

Og means and. It joins two past-tense actions done by the same subject:

• sad jeg på en bænk ved dammen
• og så en and svømme i det stille vand

So the full meaning is:

• I was sitting on a bench by the pond and saw a duck swimming in the still water

The subject jeg is understood for both verbs:

• sad
• så

This is very normal in Danish, just as in English.

It most naturally goes with svømme.

So the idea is:

• I saw a duck swim in the still water

That phrase tells you where the duck was swimming.

Grammatically, Danish often places this kind of location phrase after the infinitive:

• så en and svømme i det stille vand

So the most natural reading is that the duck was in the calm water, not that the speaker was sitting in it.

Yes. In natural English, I saw a duck swimming in the still water is often the smoothest translation.

Danish så en and svømme can correspond to either:

• saw a duck swim
• saw a duck swimming

The Danish infinitive after se does not force you to choose only one English version. English style determines which sounds better in context.

The noun genders are:

• en bænk → common gender
• en dam → common gender
• en and → common gender
• vand → neuter

This matters because gender affects articles and related words.

Examples from the sentence:

• en bænk
• dammen from en dam
• en and
• det stille vand because vand is neuter

For an English speaker, this is important because English does not normally assign grammatical gender to nouns in this way.

Then you would usually start with the subject:

Jeg sad på en bænk ved dammen og så en and svømme i det stille vand.

That is the basic Danish main-clause order:

1. subject
2. finite verb
3. the rest

When you move a different element to the front, like For to dage siden, the verb still stays in second position, which is why the original sentence becomes:

For to dage siden sad jeg ...