Min datter spørger, om hun også må holde fiskestangen, men kun hvis en voksen hjælper hende.

Because min already makes the noun phrase definite in Danish.

• min datter = my daughter
• You normally do not add the definite ending when you use a possessive like min, din, hans, vores, etc.

So:

• datter = daughter
• datteren = the daughter
• min datter = my daughter

Using min datteren would be incorrect in standard Danish.

Spørger is present tense of spørge = to ask.

In Danish, the present tense often covers situations where English might use either:

• asks
• is asking

So Min datter spørger can mean:

• My daughter asks
• My daughter is asking

The exact English choice depends on context.

Here om introduces an indirect yes/no question.

In English, we often say:

• She asks if...
• She asks whether...

In Danish, that if/whether is usually om in this kind of sentence.

So:

• Min datter spørger, om hun også må... = My daughter asks if/whether she may also...

Important: this om does not mean about here. It is a conjunction introducing an indirect question.

Because in a subordinate clause introduced by om, Danish does not use normal main-clause V2 word order.

The usual pattern here is:

• conjunction + subject + sentence adverb + finite verb

So:

• om = conjunction
• hun = subject
• også = adverb
• må = finite verb

That gives:

• om hun også må...

This is very typical Danish subordinate-clause word order.

Here må means may / is allowed to.

So hun også må holde fiskestangen means:

• she may also hold the fishing rod
• she is also allowed to hold the fishing rod

It expresses permission, not ability.

That is different from:

• kan = can, is able to
• må = may, is allowed to, must (depending on context)

In this sentence, må clearly means is allowed to.

Not if you want the same meaning.

• må holde fiskestangen = is allowed to hold the fishing rod
• kan holde fiskestangen = is able to hold the fishing rod / can hold it

Since the daughter is asking for permission, må is the natural choice.

If you used kan, it would sound like she is asking about ability, not permission.

Because også is functioning as an adverb meaning also / too, and in this subordinate clause it comes before the finite verb.

So:

• hun også må holde fiskestangen = she may also hold the fishing rod

This placement is normal in Danish subordinate clauses.

Compare the rough structure:

• hun = subject
• også = also
• må = may
• holde = hold

Because after a modal verb like må, Danish uses the infinitive without at.

So:

• må holde = may hold
• not må at holde

This is like English:

• may hold
• not may to hold

Common Danish modal verbs that behave this way include:

• kan = can
• vil = will/want to
• skal = shall/must
• må = may/must
• bør = ought to

Danish often forms compound nouns as a single word.

• fiske relates to fishing
• stang = rod
• fiskestang = fishing rod

Then the ending -en makes it definite:

• fiskestang = a fishing rod
• fiskestangen = the fishing rod

So holde fiskestangen means hold the fishing rod.

This is very common in Danish: compounds are usually written as one word.

Men means but, and kun hvis means only if.

So:

• men = but
• kun hvis = only if

Together:

• men kun hvis en voksen hjælper hende = but only if an adult helps her

This adds a condition to the permission.

They both can sometimes relate to English if, but they do different jobs here.

• om introduces an indirect question:

  • spørger, om hun også må...
  • asks if/whether she may also...

• hvis introduces a condition:

  • kun hvis en voksen hjælper hende
  • only if an adult helps her

So in this sentence:

• om = whether/if
• hvis = if in the conditional sense

This is an important distinction in Danish.

Yes. Voksen can be both an adjective and a noun depending on how it is used.

Here it means:

• an adult

So en voksen is a noun phrase.

Compare:

• en voksen person = an adult person
• en voksen = an adult

This is very natural Danish.

Because hende is the object form of hun.

• hun = she
• hende = her

Since hjælper takes an object here, Danish uses hende:

• en voksen hjælper hende = an adult helps her

And hendes means her in the possessive sense, like her book, so it would not fit here.

Yes. In this sentence, that is exactly how it is understood.

• en voksen hjælper hende means an adult helps her, specifically in the situation of holding the fishing rod.

Danish does not need an extra phrase like with it if the context is already clear. The meaning is understood from the sentence as a whole.

Because Danish punctuation commonly separates clauses with commas.

Here the sentence has several parts:

• Min datter spørger
• om hun også må holde fiskestangen
• men kun hvis en voksen hjælper hende

The comma before om marks the start of the subordinate clause, and the comma before men separates the next clause.

Comma rules in Danish are not identical to English comma rules, so learners often notice more commas in Danish sentences than they expect.