Min søster vil køre på motorvejen, fordi den vej normalt er hurtigere end vejen gennem byen.

In Danish, a possessive like min, din, hans, vores, etc. normally replaces the definite ending.

So you say:

• min søster = my sister
• not min søsteren

Compare:

• søster = sister
• søsteren = the sister
• min søster = my sister

This is different from English, where my sister and the sister both use a separate word before the noun. In Danish, definiteness is often built into the noun ending, but not when a possessive is already there.

Vil can suggest either wanting/intention or a kind of future meaning, depending on context.

In this sentence, min søster vil køre på motorvejen most naturally means something like:

• my sister wants to drive on the motorway
• or my sister intends to drive on the motorway

It is not just a neutral future marker like English will always can be. Danish often uses the present tense for simple future meaning, so when vil appears, it often carries some sense of willingness, decision, or preference.

Because vil is a modal verb, and modal verbs in Danish are followed by the infinitive form of the next verb.

So:

• vil køre = wants to drive / will drive
• kan køre = can drive
• skal køre = must / is going to drive

The second verb stays in the infinitive, here køre.

Danish often uses på with roads and traffic routes, especially when talking about travelling or driving on them.

So:

• på motorvejen = on the motorway
• på vejen = on the road

Also, motorvejen has the definite ending -en, so it means the motorway.

This sentence is talking about a specific option or route, so the motorway makes sense.

Yes. Danish very often forms compound nouns as one word.

Here:

• motorvej = motorway
• motorvejen = the motorway

It is made from:

• motor
• vej = road

This is very normal in Danish. English sometimes uses separate words where Danish prefers one compound word.

Because fordi introduces a subordinate clause, and Danish normally writes a comma before subordinate clauses.

So the sentence is divided like this:

• Min søster vil køre på motorvejen
• fordi den vej normalt er hurtigere end vejen gennem byen

The comma helps show that the second part gives the reason.

After fordi, Danish uses subordinate clause word order.

In a main clause, Danish often has the finite verb early:

• Den vej er normalt hurtigere

But in a subordinate clause, adverbs like normalt commonly come before the finite verb:

• fordi den vej normalt er hurtigere

So this order is very typical:

• subject + adverb + finite verb

That is one of the important word-order differences learners notice in Danish.

They are doing slightly different jobs.

• den vej = that road / that route
• vejen = the road / the route

In fordi den vej normalt er hurtigere, den points back to the motorway as a particular choice of route. It has a slightly contrastive feeling: that route is normally faster.

Later, vejen gennem byen means the road/route through the city. Here the noun just has its normal definite ending.

So den vej is more like a demonstrative expression, while vejen is just the regular definite form.

It can absolutely mean route in context.

In this sentence, den vej and vejen gennem byen are very naturally understood as that route and the route through the city, not just the physical roads themselves.

Danish vej often overlaps with English road, way, and sometimes route, depending on context.

This is the comparative form of the adjective.

• hurtig = fast
• hurtigere = faster
• end = than

So:

• hurtigere end = faster than

This is a very common Danish pattern:

• billig → billigere
• langsom → langsommere
• stor → større

The comparative is often made with -ere, though some adjectives change more irregularly.

Because the sentence means the route through the city, referring to a specific city that is understood from the situation.

So:

• by = city / town
• byen = the city / town

And:

• gennem byen = through the city

Using byen makes it definite, which sounds natural here because the city in question is known or understood.

Both can often mean through, and in many contexts they overlap.

In a sentence like this, gennem byen is the most neutral and natural choice for through the city.

Very roughly:

• gennem is often the standard preposition for movement through something
• igennem can sometimes sound a bit more focused on passing all the way through

But in everyday Danish, the boundary is not always strict. For this sentence, gennem is exactly what a learner should expect.

Yes, grammatically it could, but den vej sounds smoother and avoids repetition.

Compare:

• fordi motorvejen normalt er hurtigere
• fordi den vej normalt er hurtigere

The version with den vej feels a little more natural if the speaker is treating the motorway as one possible route among others. It links back to the previous noun without repeating it too heavily.