Jeg nøjes med te i aften, fordi jeg ikke orker at lave kaffe.

At nøjes med is a very common Danish expression meaning something like:

• to settle for
• to make do with
• to be content with

So in this sentence, jeg nøjes med te means the speaker is choosing tea and not going for something more effortful or desirable, such as coffee.

The med is part of the expression. You normally nøjes med noget.

No. Here nøjes is not a passive in the usual sense.

The verb is at nøjes (med), and the -s is simply part of the verb itself. Danish has a small group of verbs like this, where the -s form is the normal dictionary form.

So:

• infinitive: at nøjes
• present: nøjes
• past: nøjedes
• past participle: nøjedes

Even though it looks a bit like a passive form to an English speaker, in this sentence it is just the ordinary active verb to settle / make do.

Because Danish often uses the present tense for the near future when a time expression makes the timing clear.

So Jeg nøjes med te i aften is perfectly natural Danish, just like English can say:

• I’m having tea tonight
• I’m just sticking to tea tonight

You do not need a future marker like will every time. The phrase i aften already tells you that this is about tonight.

Because te and kaffe are being used as mass nouns here, like tea and coffee in English.

Danish often leaves out the article with drinks or substances when speaking generally:

• jeg drikker kaffe
• hun vil have te
• vi køber mælk

So med te and lave kaffe are both natural without en.

If you wanted to mean a tea or a coffee in the sense of a cup, Danish can use an article:

• en kaffe
• en te

But that is not the idea here.

This is about Danish word order in subordinate clauses.

After fordi, the clause is normally subordinate, and in subordinate clauses sentence adverbs like ikke usually come before the finite verb.

So the standard pattern is:

• fordi jeg ikke orker ...

Compare:

• main clause: Jeg orker ikke at lave kaffe
• subordinate clause: ..., fordi jeg ikke orker at lave kaffe

That change is very important in Danish grammar.

A learner can think of it like this:

• main clause: subject + verb + ikke
• subordinate clause: subject + ikke
  • verb

At orke means something like:

• to have the energy to
• to be up to
• to feel like dealing with

It is not just about physical ability. It often suggests lack of energy, motivation, or mental willingness.

So jeg ikke orker at lave kaffe means something like:

• I do not have the energy to make coffee
• I can’t be bothered to make coffee
• I’m not up to making coffee

The exact English wording depends on tone, but the Danish word often carries that feeling of ugh, I don’t have the energy for that.

Because orke is normally followed by at + infinitive when another verb comes after it.

So:

• orke at lave
• orke at gå
• orke at læse
• orke at svare

That means ikke orker at lave kaffe is the normal structure.

English speakers often want to compare this to verbs that take to + verb in English. It is not always a perfect match, but here the idea is similar.

Because lave is a very common Danish verb for make / prepare / do, and lave kaffe is the normal idiomatic way to say make coffee.

You will see lave in many everyday expressions:

• lave mad = cook / make food
• lave kaffe = make coffee
• lave te = make tea
• lave lektier = do homework

Even though English uses different verbs in different situations, Danish often uses lave very broadly.

I aften means tonight or this evening in a specific sense.

So in this sentence, it refers to one particular evening: the current or upcoming evening.

By contrast, om aftenen usually means in the evening in a general or habitual sense.

Compare:

• Jeg nøjes med te i aften = tonight, this one time
• Jeg drikker ofte te om aftenen = I often drink tea in the evening

A related expression is i nat, which means tonight in the sense of during the night / after bedtime, not the evening.

That is the most neutral placement here.

The sentence is structured as:

• Jeg = subject
• nøjes = finite verb
• med te = prepositional phrase connected to nøjes
• i aften = time expression
• fordi ... = reason clause

Putting the time expression after med te sounds natural and straightforward.

Danish often places time expressions later in the clause unless there is a reason to emphasize them.

Yes, but the emphasis changes.

For example:

• I aften nøjes jeg med te, fordi jeg ikke orker at lave kaffe.

This is also correct. Now i aften is fronted, so tonight gets more focus.

You could also sometimes hear other placements, but the original version is very natural and neutral.

A useful rule is:

• front an element if you want to highlight it
• keep it later in the clause for a more neutral statement

So both of these work:

• Jeg nøjes med te i aften ...
• I aften nøjes jeg med te ...

But they do not sound exactly identical in emphasis.