Om morgenen spiser jeg havregryn, mens min datter hellere vil have müsli med mælk.

Danish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb normally comes in the second position. Since Om morgenen is placed first, spiser has to come second, and the subject jeg comes after it.

Compare:

• Jeg spiser havregryn om morgenen.
• Om morgenen spiser jeg havregryn.

Both are correct, but the second one starts with the time expression, so the verb moves before the subject.

In this kind of time expression, Danish normally uses om + the definite form of the part of the day:

• om morgenen
• om aftenen
• om natten

So morgenen is the normal form here. The whole phrase means in the morning.

Usually it means something habitual or general: in the morning or in the mornings. In this sentence, it sounds like a regular breakfast routine.

If you want to say this morning, Danish more often uses i morges.

Mens means while. It links the two parts of the sentence and shows that they are being compared or described at the same time:

• Om morgenen spiser jeg havregryn
• mens min datter hellere vil have müsli med mælk

It introduces a subordinate clause.

Because after mens, Danish uses subordinate-clause word order. In subordinate clauses, adverbs like hellere usually come before the finite verb.

So you get:

• main clause: Min datter vil hellere have müsli.
• subordinate clause: ... mens min datter hellere vil have müsli.

This difference between main-clause and subordinate-clause word order is very important in Danish.

Hellere means rather or preferably. It shows a preference between alternatives.

So min datter hellere vil have müsli means that the daughter would rather have müsli.

A very common pattern is:

• Jeg vil hellere have kaffe. = I’d rather have coffee.

You can also make the comparison explicit:

• hellere ... end ... = rather ... than ...
• Jeg vil hellere have müsli end havregryn.

Here vil have means wants or would like to have. It is not mainly a future meaning here.

Examples:

• Jeg vil have kaffe. = I want coffee.
• Hun vil have müsli. = She wants müsli.

There is no at because vil is a modal verb. After modal verbs in Danish, the next verb normally appears in the bare infinitive:

• vil have
• kan spise
• skal gå

When Danish uses a possessive such as min, din, hans, hendes, vores, the noun normally stays in the indefinite form:

• min datter
• min bil
• vores hus

So min datteren is not correct in standard Danish. The possessive already makes the noun definite enough.

These words are being used as mass nouns, so Danish often leaves out the article when talking about them in a general or unspecified amount:

• spiser havregryn
• vil have müsli
• müsli med mælk

This is similar to English:

• eat oatmeal
• drink milk

If you want to make them countable or more specific, you add another word:

• en skål müsli = a bowl of müsli
• noget mælk = some milk
• mælken = the milk

In everyday Danish, havregryn behaves like a mass noun. Even though it refers to many little oat flakes, it is usually treated as one food substance, much like oatmeal in English.

So you simply say:

• Jeg spiser havregryn.

You normally do not count individual havregryn in this context.

Because Danish usually writes compound nouns as a single word. Havregryn is a compound made from havre + gryn.

This is very common in Danish:

• morgenmad = breakfast
• kaffekop = coffee cup
• soveværelse = bedroom

English often separates words that Danish joins together.