Efter maden lægger jeg resten i en beholder og sætter den i køleskabet.

Because Danish is a V2 language: in a main clause, the finite verb normally comes in second position.

So when the sentence begins with a time expression like Efter maden (After the meal / After eating), the verb must come next:

• Efter maden lægger jeg resten i en beholder ...

Compare this with the more neutral order:

• Jeg lægger resten i en beholder efter maden.

Both are possible, but when you move Efter maden to the front for emphasis or flow, Danish flips the normal subject + verb order into verb + subject:

• Efter maden
  • lægger
    • jeg

This is very common in Danish.

Mad means food, while maden means the food / the meal.

In Efter maden, Danish is referring to the meal as a specific event: after the meal, or more naturally in English, after eating.

So:

• mad = food
• maden = the food / the meal

This definite form is very natural in Danish in expressions like:

• før maden = before the meal
• efter maden = after the meal

Resten means the rest or the remainder. In this sentence, it most likely means the leftovers.

The base word is:

• rest = remainder, rest

The ending -en is the definite singular ending for many en-words in Danish:

• en rest = a remainder
• resten = the rest

So jeg lægger resten i en beholder literally means:

• I put the rest into a container

In context, that often means I put the leftovers into a container.

In Danish, nouns have grammatical gender, and singular indefinite nouns usually take either:

• en for common gender
• et for neuter

Beholder is a common-gender noun, so it is:

• en beholder = a container

Later, this matters again when the sentence refers back to it with den:

• en beholder → den

So the gender agreement is:

• en beholder
• den

Unfortunately, there is not always a reliable rule for guessing noun gender, so learners often need to memorize the article together with the noun.

Den refers to en beholder.

Since beholder is an en-word (common gender), the matching pronoun is den:

• en beholder → den

If it were an et-word, the pronoun would usually be det:

• et glas → det

So here:

• ... i en beholder og sætter den i køleskabet
• ... in a container and put it in the fridge

The it is the container, not the rest.

Danish often prefers more specific placement verbs where English simply uses put.

Here:

• lægger = lay/put something down, often something lying or being placed into something
• sætter = set/put something somewhere, often more like placing an object in position

So the sentence divides the action into two steps:

1. jeg lægger resten i en beholder
   = I put the rest into a container

2. og sætter den i køleskabet
   = and put/set it in the fridge

This sounds natural in Danish because the first verb focuses on putting the food into the container, and the second focuses on placing the container in the fridge.

English uses put for both, but Danish commonly uses different verbs depending on the kind of placement.

Sometimes, yes.

Putte is a more general and informal verb meaning something like put, place, or stick something somewhere. In everyday speech, many Danes might say:

• Efter maden putter jeg resten i en beholder og sætter den i køleskabet.

That would sound natural too.

But lægger and sætter are a bit more precise:

• lægger for the food going into the container
• sætter for the container being placed in the fridge

So putter is possible, but the original sentence sounds a little more exact.

Yes, English often distinguishes:

• in = inside, already there
• into = movement from outside to inside

Danish often uses i for both ideas, especially when the verb already makes the movement clear.

So:

• lægger resten i en beholder
  = puts the rest into a container

• sætter den i køleskabet
  = puts/sets it into the fridge

Even though Danish uses i, the meaning is clearly one of movement because of the verbs lægger and sætter.

So do not expect a one-to-one match with English in/into every time.

Because køleskabet means the refrigerator / the fridge, while køleskab means refrigerator in a more general sense.

The noun is:

• et køleskab = a fridge
• køleskabet = the fridge

This is a neuter noun, so its definite singular ending is -et:

• et køleskab
• køleskabet

That is why the sentence says:

• i køleskabet = in the fridge

Because both verbs share the same subject: jeg.

So Danish, like English, can coordinate the two verbs with og (and) without repeating the subject:

• Efter maden lægger jeg resten i en beholder og sætter den i køleskabet.

This is equivalent to:

• Efter maden lægger jeg resten i en beholder, og jeg sætter den i køleskabet.

The repeated jeg is grammatical, but usually unnecessary here. The version without repetition sounds smoother and more natural.

The first clause is:

• Efter maden lægger jeg resten i en beholder

Its structure is:

• Efter maden = time expression
• lægger = finite verb
• jeg = subject
• resten = object
• i en beholder = prepositional phrase

So the pattern is roughly:

• time phrase + verb + subject + object + place

This happens because of the Danish V2 rule. If the sentence started with the subject instead, it would be:

• Jeg lægger resten i en beholder efter maden.

Not really. Although mad literally means food, efter maden usually means after the meal or after eating.

This is one of those places where a literal word-for-word translation can sound strange in English. A learner should understand:

• efter maden = after the meal / after dinner / after eating

The exact English translation depends on context, but it is not usually about food as a substance. It is about the mealtime event.

Yes. Resten literally means the rest or the remainder, so its exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, the most natural interpretation is:

• the leftovers
• what is left

But in another context, resten could mean:

• the rest of the book
• the rest of the money
• the remaining people

So here it probably refers to the food that is left after the meal, but the word itself is broader than just leftovers.

Often, yes, that is part of the feel of sætte.

Sætte often suggests setting something down or placing it in position, often an object that can stand or sit somewhere. A container being put in the fridge fits that idea well.

That said, learners should not over-interpret it too mechanically every time. In real Danish, sætte is very commonly used for placing many kinds of objects somewhere, even when English would simply say put.

So the important idea is:

• lægge = lay/put something down
• sætte = set/put something somewhere

The distinction is real, but in everyday use it is often about what sounds idiomatic rather than a strict physical rule.