Jeg ser efter min nøgle i tasken.

Danish often uses the simple present where English uses the present continuous.

So Jeg ser efter min nøgle can mean I am looking for my key right now, even though there is no separate am + -ing form.

This is very common in Danish:

• Jeg spiser = I am eating
• Jeg læser = I am reading

If you really want to emphasize that something is in progress, Danish can do that in other ways, but in a normal sentence like this, the simple present is completely natural.

Yes, taken separately:

• se = see / look
• efter = after

But together, at se efter is a set expression. In this sentence it means something like:

• look for
• check for
• see whether something is there

So you should not translate it word for word as see after. The meaning comes from the whole expression, not just the individual words.

It is best to learn se efter as a unit.

That is important because the meaning is not fully predictable from the parts. English speakers often try to map it directly onto English see or look after, but that can be misleading. In Danish, se efter has its own meaning pattern.

So for learning purposes, treat at se efter noget as a vocabulary item: to look for / check for something.

Because nøgle is a common-gender noun.

The dictionary form is:

• en nøgle = a key

For singular possessives:

• common gender: min
• neuter: mit

So:

• en nøgle → min nøgle
• et hus → mit hus

And in the plural, you use mine:

• mine nøgler = my keys

Because after a possessive like min, Danish normally uses the noun in its basic, non-definite form.

So:

• min nøgle = my key
• not min nøglen

The possessive already makes the noun definite in meaning, so Danish does not also add the definite ending.

This works like English:

• my key
• not the my key

For the same reason: possessives replace the article.

So Danish uses:

• min nøgle
• din bil
• vores hus

Not:

• en min nøgle
• den min nøgle

Once you have a possessive word like min, din, hans, vores, and so on, you do not also use an ordinary article.

I tasken means in the bag — that is, in a specific bag that is understood from the situation.

Compare:

• i tasken = in the bag
• i en taske = in a bag
• i min taske = in my bag

So tasken suggests that the speaker has a particular bag in mind, and the listener is expected to know which one from context.

In this sentence, the most natural reading is that it describes where the searching is happening:

I’m looking for my key in the bag.

That said, as in English, context matters. A learner might wonder whether it could mean my key that is in the bag, but normally you understand it as the location of the search.

If you want to make the location especially clear, context or wording will do that for you.

Yes, absolutely.

Lede efter is often the most straightforward way to say look for / search for.

A useful rough distinction is:

• lede efter = actively search for
• se efter = look for / check for / see whether it is there

In many everyday situations, both are possible. But if you want the clearest, most direct equivalent of search for, lede efter is often the safer choice.

That is a very normal place for a phrase of location in Danish.

The basic structure here is:

• Jeg = subject
• ser = finite verb
• efter min nøgle = verbal expression + object
• i tasken = place phrase

Putting the place phrase at the end sounds neutral and natural. Danish can move sentence parts around for emphasis, but the given order is the most standard one.

Normally no.

With this expression, the normal pattern is:

• se efter noget
• ser efter min nøgle

So efter stays before the noun phrase here.

A sentence like Jeg ser min nøgle efter is not the normal way to express this meaning. For learners, the safest rule is: learn and use the pattern se efter + noun.