Jeg pakker et kompas i tasken, selv om min søster siger, at stien er nem at følge.

Because pakker is the present tense form of the verb at pakke.

• at pakke = to pack
• jeg pakker = I pack / I am packing

In Danish, the present tense is often made by adding -r to the infinitive:

• at pakke → pakker
• at sige → siger
• at følge → følge in the infinitive, but følger in the present

So Jeg pakker is the correct finite verb form for the sentence.

Because kompas is a neuter noun in Danish, so it takes et in the indefinite singular.

Danish nouns have two grammatical genders:

• en-words (common gender)
• et-words (neuter)

So:

• et kompas = a compass

This is something you usually just have to learn with each noun.

I tasken means in the bag, while i en taske means in a bag.

Here, tasken is the definite form:

• en taske = a bag
• tasken = the bag

Danish often uses the definite form when the object is specific or understood from context. In this sentence, it sounds like the speaker means a particular bag they are packing.

It is the definite singular form of en taske.

For many common-gender nouns, Danish adds -n or -en to make them definite:

• en taske = a bag
• tasken = the bag

So unlike English, where definiteness is usually shown with a separate word like the, Danish often adds it directly to the noun.

Selv om means even though or although. It introduces a subordinate clause.

So this part:

• selv om min søster siger ...

means:

• even though my sister says ...

It shows contrast: the speaker is packing a compass despite what the sister says.

Because selv om introduces a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses in Danish usually do not use main-clause inversion.

So you get:

• selv om min søster siger
• not selv om siger min søster

A useful comparison:

• Main clause: Min søster siger det.
• Subordinate clause: ..., selv om min søster siger det.

In Danish, the verb-second rule applies to main clauses, but not usually to subordinate clauses introduced by words like at, fordi, hvis, selv om, etc.

Because Danish writing commonly uses commas to separate clauses.

In this sentence:

• Jeg pakker et kompas i tasken = main clause
• selv om min søster siger = subordinate clause
• at stien er nem at følge = another subordinate clause

So the commas help show the clause boundaries.

You will often see commas before conjunctions like:

• at = that
• fordi = because
• selv om = even though

Comma rules in Danish can vary a bit depending on comma style taught or preferred, but in learner materials this punctuation is very normal.

Here, at means that and introduces a content clause after siger.

• min søster siger, at ...
• my sister says that ...

This is very common in Danish after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, etc.

Compare:

• Han siger, at det regner. = He says that it is raining.
• Jeg ved, at du er her. = I know that you are here.

So the first at in this sentence is a conjunction meaning that.

No, it has a different function.

In nem at følge, at is the infinitive marker, like English to in easy to follow.

So:

• at følge = to follow

This means the sentence contains two different kinds of at:

1. at = that

   • min søster siger, at ...

2. at = infinitive marker to

   • nem at følge

This is very common in Danish and can be confusing at first.

Because nem agrees with stien, and sti is a common-gender noun.

• en sti = a path
• stien = the path

When an adjective is used predicatively after er, it still reflects gender/number:

• Stien er nem. = The path is easy.
• Huset er nemt at finde. = The house is easy to find.

So:

• common gender singular → often basic form: nem
• neuter singular → often -t form: nemt
• plural/definite in many attributive contexts → often -e, though that is a different pattern

Here, since stien is common gender singular, nem is correct.

Stien is the definite singular form of en sti.

• en sti = a path / trail
• stien = the path / trail

The ending -en marks definiteness here.

So at stien er nem at følge means that the path is easy to follow.

Because after the second at, the verb is in the infinitive.

• at følge = to follow
• følger = follows / am following / are following, depending on context

In the expression nem at følge, Danish uses the infinitive, just like English says easy to follow, not easy follows.

Yes. It is a very common structure:

• adjective + at
  • infinitive

Examples:

• nem at forstå = easy to understand
• svær at læse = difficult to read
• god at bruge = good to use

So stien er nem at følge is a very natural Danish way to say that the trail/path is easy to follow.

In this kind of structure, they match closely:

• easy to follow = nem at følge

But at in Danish is broader than English to, because Danish at can also mean that in other contexts. So you cannot always translate at the same way. You have to look at its function in the sentence.

In this sentence:

• after siger → at = that
• before følge → at = to

Because et kompas is the direct object, and i tasken is a prepositional phrase telling where the compass is being packed.

So the structure is:

• Jeg = subject
• pakker = verb
• et kompas = object
• i tasken = location/destination phrase

This order is very natural in Danish. English works similarly:

• I pack a compass in the bag.

Yes. You could say:

• Selv om min søster siger, at stien er nem at følge, pakker jeg et kompas i tasken.

That means the same thing, but the emphasis changes a bit. Starting with selv om foregrounds the contrast first.

Notice that in the main clause after the fronted subordinate clause, Danish uses inversion:

• ..., pakker jeg et kompas ...
• not ..., jeg pakker ...

That is because now the main clause does not begin with the subject.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Danish present tense often covers both:

• I pack
• I am packing

So Jeg pakker et kompas i tasken could mean:

• I pack a compass in the bag
• I’m packing a compass in the bag

Usually the surrounding context tells you which one sounds best in English.

Not exactly.

• sti usually means a path, trail, or smaller walking route
• vej usually means a road or street

So stien er nem at følge suggests a trail or path, not a regular road.

There are three verb forms here:

• pakker = present tense, main clause
• siger = present tense, subordinate clause
• følge = infinitive, after at

So the sentence has two finite verbs and one infinitive.

This is a good example of how Danish builds longer sentences by nesting clauses inside each other.