Hun siger, at vi kan sætte den nye potte hvor som helst på altanen, så længe der er lys nok til planten.

Those commas mark the start of subordinate clauses.

• at vi kan sætte ...
• så længe der er lys nok ...

In Danish, many writers use a comma before subordinate clauses. This is often called start comma. It is very common, especially in careful writing.

You may also see Danish written without these commas, because modern Danish allows both systems if used consistently. So this sentence could also appear without one or both of those commas, depending on the writer’s style.

At here means that.

So:

• Hun siger, at ... = She says that ...

In English, that is often optional. Danish can also sometimes omit at in speech or informal language, but in standard written Danish it is very common to include it after verbs like sige, tro, mene, and so on.

Because kan is a modal verb, and in Danish modal verbs are followed directly by the infinitive, with no at.

So:

• kan sætte = can put/place
• vil gå = want to go / will go
• skal arbejde = must work / will work
• må komme = may come / must come

This is similar to English, where we say can put, not can to put.

This is the normal Danish pattern for a definite noun with an adjective.

• en ny potte = a new pot
• potten = the pot
• den nye potte = the new pot

A few things are happening here:

1. potte is a common-gender noun, so the definite article before an adjective is den
2. ny becomes nye in this definite/adjectival pattern
3. the noun itself is also in the definite form: potte → potten/potte?

Here there is a small but important point: in standard Danish, the normal form is den nye potte, where the noun appears in the definite phrase after den and the adjective. This is just how Danish builds this kind of noun phrase.

So English the new pot corresponds to Danish den nye potte.

Hvor som helst means anywhere or more literally wherever at all.

It is built from:

• hvor = where
• som helst = a phrase that adds the idea of any / no matter which

So:

• hvor som helst = anywhere
• hvem som helst = anyone
• hvornår som helst = anytime
• hvad som helst = anything

In this sentence, hvor som helst på altanen means anywhere on the balcony.

Because Danish normally uses på for a balcony.

• på altanen = on the balcony

Even though English also says on the balcony, this is still worth noticing because Danish prepositions do not always match English ones exactly.

Why på? A balcony is thought of as a kind of surface/platform/open area that you stand or place things on. So på is the natural choice.

Using i altanen would sound wrong in normal Danish.

Here så længe means as long as in the sense of provided that or so long as.

So:

• så længe der er lys nok til planten = as long as there is enough light for the plant

It does contain længe, which is related to duration, but in this structure the whole phrase works as a conjunction meaning provided that.

So in this sentence it is not mainly about time length. It introduces a condition.

This der is an existential der, similar to English there in there is.

So:

• der er lys nok = there is enough light

This der does not mean there as a place. It is a grammatical subject used when Danish introduces the existence or presence of something.

Compare:

• Der er en stol i køkkenet = There is a chair in the kitchen
• Der er lys nok = There is enough light

Lys nok is a very natural Danish way to say enough light.

Both word order and meaning matter here:

• lys nok clearly means light enough / enough light
• nok lys can sometimes also mean enough light, but nok before something can also be understood as probably in other contexts

Because of that, placing nok after the noun often makes the meaning clearer and more idiomatic in sentences like this.

Compare:

• Der er penge nok = There is enough money
• Der er tid nok = There is enough time
• Der er lys nok = There is enough light

So lys nok is a very standard pattern.

Because Danish commonly uses nok til to mean enough for someone or something.

So:

• lys nok til planten = enough light for the plant

This is a standard combination:

• mad nok til alle = enough food for everyone
• tid nok til opgaven = enough time for the task
• vand nok til blomsterne = enough water for the flowers

Using for here would be much less natural. With nok, Danish strongly prefers til.

Because planten is definite: the plant.

That makes sense here because the sentence is talking about a specific plant, probably the one in the new pot. Danish often uses the definite form when the thing is already identifiable from context.

So:

• til planten = for the plant
• til en plante = for a plant

If the speaker meant any plant in general, en plante might be possible. But here it sounds like a particular plant is meant.

These are subordinate clauses, and Danish word order changes a bit in subordinate clauses compared with main clauses.

Main clause:

• Hun siger ...
• finite verb siger comes in the normal main-clause position

Subordinate clause:

• at vi kan sætte ...
• så længe der er ...

A very useful thing to remember is this:

• In main clauses, Danish often has verb-second word order
• In subordinate clauses, the word order is usually more straightforward, and the subject comes before sentence adverbs like ikke

For example:

• Vi kan sætte den på altanen. = main clause
• Hun siger, at vi kan sætte den på altanen. = subordinate clause

And with negation:

• Vi kan ikke sætte den der.
• Hun siger, at vi ikke kan sætte den der.

That second pattern, where ikke comes before the infinitive and after the subject in the subordinate clause, is one of the big things learners need to notice.

Yes, sætte is a very natural choice here.

In Danish, sætte is often used when you place something in a position, especially something that ends up standing somewhere.

For objects like a pot, cup, or chair, sætte is very common.

Related verbs include:

• sætte = put/set/place
• stille = place/stand, also very common for upright objects
• lægge = lay, put something down horizontally

In real life, both sætte and stille could be possible in some contexts, but sætte den nye potte på altanen sounds completely normal. A learner should mainly take away that Danish often distinguishes placement verbs more specifically than English does.