Teatret ligger tæt på stationen, og scenen er større, end jeg troede.

Because teatret is the definite form of teater.

• et teater = a theatre
• teatret = the theatre

Danish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

Here, the sentence is talking about the theatre, so teatret is correct.

This is because Danish nouns have two grammatical genders:

• common gender → definite singular usually ends in -en
• neuter gender → definite singular usually ends in -et

So here:

• en station → stationen = the station
• en scene → scenen = the stage
• et teater → teatret = the theatre

So the ending tells you both that the noun is definite and which gender it has.

In Danish, ligge is often used for the location of buildings, places, and geographical things.

So:

• Teatret ligger tæt på stationen = The theatre is located close to the station

A more literal sense of ligger is lies, but in sentences like this it usually just means is situated or is located.

Using er would not sound as natural here. Danish often prefers:

• Huset ligger ... = The house is ... / is located ...
• Skolen ligger ... = The school is located ...

Tæt på means close to or near.

It is a very common expression:

• tæt = close/tight
• på = on/to, but here it is part of the fixed expression

So you should learn tæt på as a unit:

• tæt på stationen = close to the station

Even though på often means on, here you should not translate word-for-word.

No. In this sentence, på belongs to the expression tæt på.

So the structure is:

• tæt på stationen = close to the station

It does not mean the theatre is physically on the station.

This is a common thing in Danish: a preposition may be part of a larger expression, so it should not always be translated on its own.

No. Scenen here means the stage.

• en scene in Danish can mean a stage
• it can also mean a scene in some contexts, but in a theatre sentence it normally means stage

So in this sentence:

• scenen er større = the stage is bigger

This is a useful false-friend warning for English speakers, because scene in English usually does not mean the physical theatre stage.

Because Danish usually forms the comparative of short adjectives with an ending, just like English often does with -er.

• stor = big
• større = bigger

So:

• scenen er større = the stage is bigger

This is an irregular comparative, because stor changes its vowel:

• stor → større → størst

Compare English:

• big → bigger → biggest

Because end is the Danish word used for than in comparisons.

So:

• større end jeg troede = bigger than I thought

This is a very common structure:

• ældre end mig = older than me
• bedre end forventet = better than expected
• dyrere end før = more expensive than before

So whenever English uses than after a comparative, Danish usually uses end.

Because end jeg troede is treated as a clause, and Danish spelling traditionally uses commas before subordinate clauses much more regularly than English does.

So:

• scenen er større, end jeg troede

The comma is standard Danish punctuation here.

In English, many people would simply write:

• The stage is bigger than I thought.

But in Danish, the comma before a clause like this is normal.

Because the sentence means than I thought.

• jeg tror = I think / I believe
• jeg troede = I thought / I believed

The speaker is comparing reality now with a previous expectation or impression. So the past tense is natural.

You could think of it as:

• The stage is bigger than I thought it was.

Danish often uses the simple past here, just like English.

It is normal main clause word order.

After og = and, Danish keeps ordinary main-clause order:

• scenen = subject
• er = verb
• større = complement

So:

• Teatret ligger tæt på stationen, og scenen er større, end jeg troede.

Both parts are main clauses joined by og.

This is important because Danish changes word order after many subordinating words, but og does not trigger that change.

Yes, you probably could, and it would be understandable. But ligger is usually more idiomatic when talking about where a building or place is situated.

So:

• Teatret ligger tæt på stationen = more natural
• Teatret er tæt på stationen = understandable, but less specifically about location

Using ligger makes the sentence sound more like natural Danish.

In this sentence, it refers to the building / venue.

That is clear because it is said to lie close to the station, which is something a physical place does.

If Danish wanted to talk about theatre as an art form, the context would be different, for example:

• Teatret er vigtigt for kulturen = The theatre is important for culture

So context tells you whether teatret means the building, the institution, or the art form. Here it is clearly the place.