Konduktøren kom tilbage med et smil og sagde, at toget snart kørte videre.

Because Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

• konduktør = a conductor
• konduktøren = the conductor

This is very common in Danish:

• tog = train
• toget = the train
• smil = smile
• smilet = the smile

So konduktøren literally means conductor-the, but in natural English that is simply the conductor.

Danish nouns have grammatical gender, and each noun takes either en or et as its indefinite article.

• et smil = a smile
• en konduktør = a conductor
• et tog = a train

Unfortunately, noun gender usually has to be learned with the word. So it is best to memorize nouns together with their article:

• en konduktør
• et smil
• et tog

Kom is the simple past of komme (to come).

• komme = to come
• kommer = comes / is coming
• kom = came

So:

• Konduktøren kom tilbage = The conductor came back

Many common Danish verbs form their past tense irregularly, and komme → kom is one of them.

Tilbage means back or back again.

So:

• kom tilbage = came back
• gå tilbage = go back
• give tilbage = give back

In this sentence, Konduktøren kom tilbage means that the conductor had gone away and then returned.

Med et smil literally means with a smile, and it is a very natural way in Danish to describe how someone does something.

• med et smil = with a smile
• med vrede = angrily / with anger
• med glæde = gladly / with joy

So kom tilbage med et smil means the conductor came back smiling, or came back with a smile.

Danish often uses this kind of med + noun structure where English might prefer an adverb or participle.

Sagde is the past tense of sige (to say).

• sige = to say
• siger = says / is saying
• sagde = said

So:

• og sagde = and said

Like kom, this is also an irregular past-tense form.

In Danish, a comma is normally written before a subordinate clause introduced by words like at (that).

So in:

• ... sagde, at toget snart kørte videre

the part after at is a subordinate clause: that the train would soon continue / that the train was soon going on.

This comma is more standard and more expected in Danish than in everyday English.

Here, at means that.

• Han sagde, at... = He said that...
• Jeg ved, at... = I know that...
• Hun tror, at... = She thinks that...

So:

• sagde, at toget snart kørte videre = said that the train would soon continue

Do not confuse this at with the English infinitive marker to. In Danish, the infinitive marker is also often at, but here it is a conjunction meaning that.

Because toget is the definite form of tog.

• et tog = a train
• toget = the train

So in the sentence:

• at toget snart kørte videre = that the train would soon continue

Again, Danish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of putting a separate word before it.

Snart means soon, and adverbs like this often come before the verb or verb phrase they modify.

So:

• toget snart kørte videre = the train soon continued on / the train would soon continue

This placement is natural in Danish subordinate clauses.

Also notice that after at, the word order is different from a main clause. In a subordinate clause, Danish does not use the normal verb-second pattern. That is why snart can come before kørte here.

Compare:

• Main clause: Toget kørte snart videre.
• Subordinate clause: ... at toget snart kørte videre.

Kørte is the past tense of køre (to drive, to run, to go, depending on context).

• køre = to drive / run / go
• kører = drives / is running / goes
• kørte = drove / was running / went

The whole sentence is narrated in the past:

• the conductor came back
• he said
• the train would soon continue

So Danish uses kørte because the reporting verb sagde is also in the past.

The adverb videre means on, further, or ahead.

When combined with motion verbs, it often gives the idea of continuing:

• gå videre = go on / continue
• køre videre = drive on / continue on
• rejse videre = travel on

So toget kørte videre literally means the train drove/ran on, but in natural English it is often best translated as the train continued on or the train was moving on again.

Yes, learners may still see konduktør, and it clearly means conductor or ticket inspector, especially in transport contexts. However, in modern usage the exact job title can vary depending on the transport system.

So the word is perfectly understandable, but in real life you may also encounter other transport-related terms depending on whether it is a train, bus, or metro context.

For learning purposes, konduktøren here is completely normal and easy to understand.

The sentence can be divided into two main parts:

1. Konduktøren kom tilbage med et smil

   • subject: Konduktøren
   • verb: kom
   • adverb: tilbage
   • phrase describing manner: med et smil

2. og sagde, at toget snart kørte videre

   • og links the two actions
   • verb: sagde
   • subordinate clause: at toget snart kørte videre

So the overall pattern is:

• [Subject] + [past verb] + [extra information] + og + [past verb] + subordinate clause

That is a very common Danish sentence pattern.

Normally, no. In English, you can often say:

• He said the train would leave soon

instead of:

• He said that the train would leave soon

In Danish, at is usually kept in this kind of sentence:

• Han sagde, at toget snart kørte videre

Leaving it out would usually sound wrong or at least much less natural. So for learners, it is safest to include at.