Vi lægger metal i en særskilt beholder.

Lægger is the present tense form of the verb at lægge.

• at lægge = to lay / to put
• jeg lægger = I put
• vi lægger = we put

In Danish, after the subject vi, you need the finite verb, so vi lægger is correct.

Compare:

• Vi lægger metal i en særskilt beholder. = We put metal in a separate container.
• At lægge metal i en særskilt beholder er vigtigt. = To put metal in a separate container is important.

So lægge is the infinitive, while lægger is the form that matches vi in a normal statement.

The dictionary form is at lægge.

This verb is often taught with these main forms:

• at lægge = infinitive
• lægger = present
• lagde = past
• har lagt = past participle

Examples:

• Jeg lægger bogen på bordet. = I put the book on the table.
• Jeg lagde bogen på bordet. = I put the book on the table.
• Jeg har lagt bogen på bordet. = I have put the book on the table.

Because metal is being used as a mass noun, like water, glass, or paper in English.

In this sentence, metal means the material in general, not a metal or the metal.

So Danish says:

• Vi lægger metal i en særskilt beholder.

Just like English says:

• We put metal in a separate container.

If you were talking about a specific piece or type of metal, the wording could change, but here it means metal as a category of recyclable material.

Because beholder is a common-gender noun in Danish, so it takes en, not et.

Danish nouns have two grammatical genders:

• en-words = common gender
• et-words = neuter

Beholder is an en-word:

• en beholder = a container
• beholderen = the container

So:

• en særskilt beholder is correct
• et beholder is incorrect

Because it agrees with the noun pattern used here: singular indefinite common gender.

The noun is:

• en beholder

And the adjective before an en-word in the singular indefinite usually has no extra ending:

• en stor beholder
• en grøn beholder
• en særskilt beholder

So særskilt stays in its basic form here.

For comparison:

• et særskilt rum = a separate room
  Here it also happens to be særskilt, because the adjective already ends in -t.
• særskilte beholdere = separate containers
  In the plural, you normally get -e.

Yes, in this sentence særskilt means separate, distinct, or set apart from others.

So en særskilt beholder means something like:

• a separate container
• a designated container
• a distinct container

It is a slightly formal or official-sounding word, which fits recycling instructions well.

A related word is separat, which can also mean separate, but særskilt is very common in notices, rules, and sorting instructions.

Here i corresponds to English in or into, depending on how English chooses to express the action.

Danish often uses i with verbs of putting something into a container:

• lægge noget i en kasse = put something in/into a box
• hælde vand i et glas = pour water into a glass

So in this sentence:

• Vi lægger metal i en særskilt beholder.

the idea is putting metal into the container, even though Danish simply uses i.

English often distinguishes:

• in = location
• into = movement

Danish is less strict about that in everyday usage.

They can all relate to putting something somewhere, but they are not identical.

lægge is used when something is placed lying down or just put somewhere in a general sense.

• lægge avisen på bordet = put the newspaper on the table
• lægge metal i en beholder = put metal in a container

Other common verbs:

• stille: place something standing upright
  • stille flasken på bordet = put the bottle on the table
• sætte: set or place something, often in a sitting/fixed position
  • sætte koppen på bordet = put the cup on the table
• putte: put something in, often more informal and very common in speech
  • putte metal i beholderen = put metal in the container

In this recycling sentence, lægger sounds completely natural.

Yes. This is standard Danish main-clause word order:

• Vi = subject
• lægger = finite verb
• metal = object
• i en særskilt beholder = prepositional phrase

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + verb + object + adverbial/prepositional phrase

Danish main clauses normally put the finite verb in second position.

That is why if you move another element to the front, the subject must come after the verb:

• Vi lægger metal i en særskilt beholder.
• I en særskilt beholder lægger vi metal.

That second version is grammatical, but the original is more neutral.

Yes, you could, and it would be understandable and natural in many contexts.

• Vi lægger metal i en særskilt beholder sounds a bit more neutral or careful.
• Vi putter metal i en særskilt beholder sounds a bit more everyday and conversational.

In official instructions, Danish often prefers slightly more neutral wording like lægger, sorterer, or anbringer, depending on context.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker could be:

vee LEG-er meh-TAL ee en SAIR-sgilt beh-HOL-er

A few notes:

• Vi sounds like vee
• lægger has the æ sound, somewhat like the vowel in cat, but not exactly
• metal is usually stressed on the second syllable: me-TAL
• særskilt can be tricky because of the consonant cluster
• beholder is pronounced roughly beh-HOL-er

The exact pronunciation will depend on the speaker and dialect, but those stress patterns are useful to know.

Not necessarily. Beholder is a general word meaning container, receptacle, or bin, depending on context.

So:

• en beholder = a container
• in recycling contexts, it may be understood as a sorting bin or waste container

If Danish wanted to be more specific, it could use words like:

• skraldespand = trash can / bin
• container = container
• affaldsbeholder = waste container

But beholder is a perfectly normal and natural choice here.