Hun siger, at kysten er lige så smuk om aftenen som om morgenen, når der ikke er så mange mennesker.

At introduces a subordinate clause, just like that in English.

• Hun siger, at kysten er smuk = She says that the coast is beautiful.

In English, that is often omitted. In Danish, at is very common here and usually sounds more natural than leaving it out.

It also signals subordinate-clause word order, which matters later in the sentence, for example in når der ikke er så mange mennesker.

Kysten means the coast. Danish usually adds the definite article as an ending:

• kyst = coast
• kysten = the coast

So instead of a separate word like English the, Danish often attaches definiteness to the noun itself.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific coast, or the coast in a general identifiable sense, kysten is the natural form.

The adjective matches the noun.

Kysten is a common-gender singular noun, so the adjective stays in its basic form:

• en smuk kyst = a beautiful coast
• kysten er smuk = the coast is beautiful

You would use smukt with a neuter singular noun:

• et smukt hus = a beautiful house
• huset er smukt = the house is beautiful

So smuk is correct because kysten is not neuter.

Lige så ... som means just as ... as.

In this sentence:

• lige så smuk om aftenen som om morgenen
• = just as beautiful in the evening as in the morning

The pattern is:

• lige så + adjective/adverb + som

Examples:

• Hun er lige så høj som sin søster = She is just as tall as her sister.
• Det går lige så hurtigt som før = It goes just as fast as before.

You may also see så ... som, but lige så ... som clearly emphasizes equality.

Here om aftenen and om morgenen mean in the evening and in the morning as times of day.

This use of om + definite time word is very common when talking about a part of the day in a general or descriptive way:

• om morgenen = in the morning
• om aftenen = in the evening
• om natten = at night

This is different from more specific expressions such as:

• i aften = tonight
• i morges = this morning

So in this sentence, the speaker is comparing the coast at two times of day, not referring to one specific evening and one specific morning.

Because når is used for when/whenever in a general or repeated situation, while hvis usually means if.

Here the idea is:

• the coast is beautiful in the evening and in the morning when there aren’t so many people
• meaning: in situations where that condition is true, or whenever that happens

So når fits well because it describes a typical circumstance.

Compare:

• Når der ikke er så mange mennesker, er det dejligt der = When there aren’t so many people, it’s lovely there.
• Hvis der ikke er så mange mennesker i morgen, tager vi derhen = If there aren’t so many people tomorrow, we’ll go there.

The second is a real condition about a future possibility, so hvis is better there.

This der is the Danish equivalent of existential there in English:

• der er mange mennesker = there are many people
• der er ikke så mange mennesker = there aren’t so many people

It does not mean there as a place in this sentence. It is a grammatical subject used to introduce existence or presence.

So når der ikke er så mange mennesker literally works like:

• when there are not so many people

Because this is a subordinate clause introduced by når.

In Danish subordinate clauses, sentence adverbs like ikke normally come before the finite verb:

• når der ikke er så mange mennesker

But in a main clause, Danish usually has verb-second word order, so the finite verb comes earlier:

• Der er ikke så mange mennesker

So compare:

• Main clause: Der er ikke mange mennesker
• Subordinate clause: når der ikke er mange mennesker

This is one of the most important Danish word-order patterns to learn.

Så mange mennesker means so many people or, in negative contexts like this one, that many people / so many people.

• mange mennesker = many people
• så mange mennesker = so many people / that many people

In der ikke er så mange mennesker, the meaning is:

• there are not so many people
• there aren’t that many people
• there aren’t too many people

Here så strengthens the quantity idea.

Yes, mennesker means people, literally the plural of menneske = human being/person.

• et menneske = a person / a human being
• mennesker = people

You could sometimes use folk, but the nuance is a little different:

• mennesker is more neutral and countable in this kind of sentence
• folk often means people in a more general or collective sense

So der ikke er så mange mennesker is the most straightforward choice here.

They mark subordinate clauses.

The sentence has:

• a clause introduced by at
• another clause introduced by når

So the commas help separate the parts:

• Hun siger, at ...
• ..., når ...

A useful thing to know is that Danish comma practice can vary slightly depending on whether the writer uses start comma. Many learners will often see commas before subordinate clauses, as in this sentence, and it is perfectly normal.

Yes. In this sentence, that final clause most naturally applies to the whole comparison.

So the idea is:

• the coast is just as beautiful in the evening as in the morning
• especially/when there are not so many people

In other words, the lack of people is a condition that makes both times pleasant or beautiful.

That is why the clause comes at the end: it comments on the whole statement, not only on om morgenen.