Bordet er rundt.

It is the definite ending for a singular neuter noun.

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

So instead of putting a separate word before the noun, Danish often adds the equivalent of the to the end of the noun.

You have to learn Danish nouns together with their article:

• en noun = common gender
• et noun = neuter

So you should learn it as et bord, not just bord.

That matters because the noun’s gender affects other words in the sentence, including adjective forms like rundt.

Because Danish usually expresses the by attaching an ending to the noun itself.

So:

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

A separate definite word such as det is used in some other structures, especially when an adjective comes before the noun:

• det runde bord = the round table

But in Bordet er rundt, the noun stands by itself, so the suffix -et is enough.

Because bord is a neuter noun, and the adjective must agree with it.

With round, the basic pattern is:

• en stol er rund = a chair is round
• et bord er rundt = a table is round
• stole/borde er runde = chairs/tables are round

So rundt is the correct neuter singular form.

That is a very common question.

The short answer: after er, the adjective is predicative, and predicative adjectives do not take the special definite -e form just because the noun is definite.

Compare:

• det runde bord = the round table

  • adjective is before the noun
  • this is where you use runde

• bordet er rundt = the table is round

  • adjective is after er
  • this is why you use rundt

So here the adjective agrees with gender and number, not with definiteness in the same way.

Er is the present tense of at være (to be).

So:

• at være = to be
• er = am / are / is, depending on context

In this sentence, it works like English is.

Yes, in this simple sentence it is very similar:

• Bordet = subject
• er = verb
• rundt = adjective/complement

So the pattern is:

Subject + verb + adjective

That said, Danish word order becomes more different from English in other sentence types because Danish follows a strong verb-second pattern.

The adjective changes depending on the noun’s gender and number.

Examples:

• Stolen er rund.
  common gender singular

• Bordet er rundt.
  neuter singular

• Bordene er runde.
  plural

So the forms to notice are:

• rund = common singular
• rundt = neuter singular
• runde = plural (and also some other forms, such as before a definite noun)

Yes, but it is a slightly different structure.

• Bordet er rundt.
  You are talking about the table and describing it.

• Det er et rundt bord.
  You are identifying something as a round table.

Both are natural, but they are used in different situations.

A rough guide is that it is not pronounced as directly as the spelling may suggest to an English speaker.

A few useful points:

• bordet has a very soft Danish d
• er is usually short and unstressed
• rundt ends with a consonant cluster that may sound tighter than expected

If you know IPA, a common Copenhagen-style pronunciation is roughly:

• bordet: [ˈpoɐ̯ðəð]
• er: [ɛɐ̯]
• rundt: [ˈʁɔnˀd]

The most important practical tip is: don’t try to pronounce every letter in a strong English way. Danish sounds are often softer and more reduced.