Vi sidder rundt om bordet i køkkenet.

Because Danish often uses a position verb where English uses to be plus -ing.

So Vi sidder rundt om bordet i køkkenet is literally something like We sit around the table in the kitchen, but in natural English it usually means We are sitting around the table in the kitchen.

The verb sidde means to sit / to be sitting. Danish commonly uses verbs like:

• sidde = be sitting
• stå = be standing
• ligge = be lying
• gå = go / be walking

So Danish prefers the more specific verb instead of just to be.

Yes. Sidder is the present tense of sidde.

In Danish, the present tense often covers both:

• We sit around the table
• We are sitting around the table

Which meaning is intended depends on context.

So:

• Vi sidder = we sit or we are sitting

In this sentence, the natural English translation is usually we are sitting, because it describes what is happening.

Because Danish verbs do not change according to the subject the way English verbs sometimes do.

Compare:

• jeg sidder = I sit / am sitting
• du sidder = you sit / are sitting
• vi sidder = we sit / are sitting
• de sidder = they sit / are sitting

The verb form stays the same: sidder.

So unlike English, Danish does not have different present-tense forms like I am, you are, he is in the same way for ordinary verbs.

Rundt om means around.

In this sentence:

• rundt = round / around
• om = around / about / surrounding

Together, rundt om bordet means around the table.

It is a very common expression for physical position:

• Vi står rundt om bilen = We are standing around the car
• Børnene løber rundt om huset = The children run around the house

So here it tells you how the people are positioned in relation to the table.

Because Danish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

So:

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

and

• et køkken = a kitchen
• køkkenet = the kitchen

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Instead of putting the before the noun, Danish often attaches it as a suffix:

• bogen = the book
• huset = the house
• stolen = the chair

In your sentence:

• bordet = the table
• køkkenet = the kitchen

Because i means in.

So:

• i køkkenet = in the kitchen

The full phrase bordet i køkkenet means the table in the kitchen.

This tells us which table is meant: the one located in the kitchen.

Most naturally, it describes bordet: the table in the kitchen.

So the sentence is understood as:

• We are sitting around [the table in the kitchen].

In practice, it also tells you where the people are, since if they are around the table in the kitchen, they are in the kitchen too.

But grammatically, i køkkenet most directly attaches to bordet.

Yes, that is possible.

Danish word order changes depending on what you want to emphasize. The original sentence:

• Vi sidder rundt om bordet i køkkenet

is a neutral statement: We are sitting around the table in the kitchen.

If you move I køkkenet to the front:

• I køkkenet sidder vi rundt om bordet

then the location gets more emphasis: In the kitchen, we are sitting around the table.

Notice that when something other than the subject comes first, Danish usually keeps the verb in second position:

• I køkkenet
  • sidder
    • vi ...

This is a very important Danish word-order rule.

Yes, often you can.

Both can mean around the table:

• rundt om bordet
• omkring bordet

In many contexts they are very similar. Rundt om can feel a bit more concrete and physical, while omkring can sound slightly more formal or written, depending on context.

For everyday speech, rundt om bordet is very natural.

Sidder is pronounced roughly like SI-thər or SI-dər, depending on how close you want to get with English sounds.

A few useful points:

• The dd in sidder is not pronounced like a strong English d-d.
• In standard Danish, it becomes a softer sound.
• The first syllable is stressed: SID-der.

If you are a beginner, it is fine to aim for something close to SID-er, as long as you know the real Danish sound is softer than that.

Yes: the d in rundt is usually not pronounced clearly the way an English learner might expect.

So although it is spelled rundt, the sound is closer to something like run(t), with the consonants compressed together.

This is common in Danish: spelling often preserves letters that are weak or silent in speech.

So a learner may see:

• rundt

but hear something much shorter and less fully pronounced than expected.

Here are the main forms:

• vi = we
• sidder = present tense of sidde = to sit / to be sitting
• rundt om = around
• bordet = definite singular of et bord = the table
• i = in
• køkkenet = definite singular of et køkken = the kitchen

Seeing the base forms helps you recognize the grammar:

• sidde → sidder
• et bord → bordet
• et køkken → køkkenet

Not normally if you want to say that people are sitting.

Danish prefers:

• Vi sidder rundt om bordet = We are sitting around the table

Using er alone would not express the sitting position. You would need a different structure, and it would usually sound less natural for this situation.

So if the idea is specifically that the people are seated, sidder is exactly the right verb.