Min søster sorterer glas og metal, før hun går ned til containerne i gården.

In Danish, a possessive like min, din, hans, vores, etc. usually goes with the indefinite form of the noun:

• min søster = my sister
• min bil = my car

So you do not normally say min søsteren.

There is also a different structure, søsteren min, but that is a separate pattern and can sound more emphatic, contrastive, or colloquial depending on context. The neutral form here is min søster.

Sorterer is the present tense of at sortere = to sort.

So:

• jeg sorterer = I sort / I am sorting
• hun sorterer = she sorts / she is sorting

In Danish, the present tense is often used for:

• habits or routines
• general actions
• sometimes near-future meaning, depending on context

Here it most naturally sounds like a routine or regular action: she sorts the recycling before going down to the containers.

Because glas and metal are being used as materials / recycling categories, not as specific individual objects.

So glas og metal means something like:

• glass
• metal

as general categories of waste sorting.

This is similar to English, where you can say We recycle glass and metal without needing the.

A useful detail:

• et glas can also mean a glass as in a drinking glass
• but in this sentence, the recycling context makes glas mean glass as a material

Før means before.

It introduces a subordinate clause:

• før hun går ned til containerne i gården = before she goes down to the containers in the courtyard

So the sentence has this structure:

• main clause: Min søster sorterer glas og metal
• subordinate clause: før hun går ned til containerne i gården

It works very much like English before.

Because after før, Danish uses subordinate clause word order.

In a normal main clause, Danish often has the finite verb in second position:

• Hun går ned til containerne.

But after a subordinating conjunction like før, at, fordi, når, etc., the subject usually comes before the verb:

• før hun går
• not før går hun

So this is a very important pattern to learn:

• main clause: often verb-second
• subordinate clause: usually subject + verb

Går ned literally means goes down.

In this sentence, it suggests that she goes down from her apartment or current location to the recycling containers, probably in the building’s courtyard area.

Danish often uses these small direction words very naturally:

• gå ned = go down
• gå op = go up
• gå ud = go out
• gå ind = go in

So går ned til containerne is very idiomatic Danish for going down to where the containers are.

Because containerne is the definite plural form:

• en container = a container
• containere = containers
• containerne = the containers

Here the speaker is referring to specific containers that both speaker and listener can identify, probably the usual recycling containers in the courtyard.

So:

• til containerne = to the containers

If you said til containere, it would sound more general and much less natural here.

Gård can mean different things depending on context. Here, gården means the courtyard.

So:

• i gården = in the courtyard

In this kind of sentence, especially with apartment buildings and recycling containers, gården usually means a shared inner courtyard, not a farm.

Forms:

• en gård = a courtyard / farmyard / farm
• gården = the courtyard / the farmyard

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

The comma marks the beginning of a subordinate clause.

So the sentence is divided like this:

• Min søster sorterer glas og metal,
• før hun går ned til containerne i gården.

A useful note for learners: Danish comma usage has had more than one accepted system. Many writers place a comma before subordinate clauses, while others may omit it depending on the comma style they follow. So you may see both:

• Min søster sorterer glas og metal, før hun går ned ...
• Min søster sorterer glas og metal før hun går ned ...

Both can occur, but the version with the comma is very common.

Not always. In this context, containerne usually means large waste or recycling bins/containers used by residents.

So although container is clearly related to English container, in everyday Danish housing/recycling contexts it often refers to what English speakers might call:

• bins
• recycling containers
• waste containers
• dumpsters, depending on size and region

So it is best understood from the situation, not just translated mechanically word-for-word.