Når vi kommer hjem fra vandreturen, tørrer vi teltet og lægger pagajerne tilbage i garagen.

Når introduces a time clause. In this sentence, it means when:

• Når vi kommer hjem ... = When we come home ...

In Danish, når can often mean either when or whenever, depending on context. If the sentence describes a repeated routine, English might naturally translate it as whenever. If it describes a specific future situation, English usually says when.

So this Danish form works for both kinds of situations.

This is because Danish follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

The first part, Når vi kommer hjem fra vandreturen, is a subordinate clause. When that whole clause comes first, the main clause starts right after the comma, and the finite verb comes before the subject:

• Når vi kommer hjem fra vandreturen, tørrer vi teltet ...

So the order is:

1. fronted element: Når vi kommer hjem fra vandreturen
2. finite verb: tørrer
3. subject: vi

If you started with the main clause instead, you would get normal subject-verb order:

• Vi tørrer teltet, når vi kommer hjem fra vandreturen.

Danish often uses the present tense where English also uses the present, especially for:

• habits or routines
• general truths
• future events that are seen as scheduled or expected
• time clauses after when

So:

• Når vi kommer hjem ...
• tørrer vi teltet ...
• lægger pagajerne tilbage ...

can describe something habitual or something that will happen next.

This is very natural in Danish. You do not need a special future form here.

Because hjem is a very common adverb meaning home.

With verbs of movement, Danish usually says:

• komme hjem = come home
• gå hjem = go home
• køre hjem = drive home

So hjem works much like English home in come home. You normally do not use an article or a preposition here.

Vandreturen is the noun vandretur with the definite article attached at the end.

• en vandretur = a hike
• vandreturen = the hike

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Danish usually adds the as a suffix:

• tur → turen
• vandretur → vandreturen

So fra vandreturen means from the hike.

Because Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, instead of using a separate word like English the.

Here are the forms:

• et telt = a tent

• teltet = the tent

• en pagaj = a paddle
• pagajer = paddles

• pagajerne = the paddles

• en garage = a garage
• garagen = the garage

So these endings show definiteness:

• -et often for singular et-words
• -en often for singular en-words
• -erne often for definite plural

Because tørrer and lægger share the same subject: vi.

So Danish, like English, can coordinate two verbs with og:

• tørrer vi teltet og lægger pagajerne tilbage i garagen

This works just like English:

• we dry the tent and put the paddles back in the garage

You could repeat vi, but you usually would not unless you wanted special emphasis or a different structure.

Lægge is used when something is placed so that it lies down, or is thought of as ending up in a horizontal/resting position.

That makes sense for pagajerne (the paddles), because paddles are typically laid down.

A useful contrast is:

• lægge = lay/put something down
• ligge = lie/be lying

So:

• Vi lægger pagajerne i garagen. = We put the paddles in the garage.
• Pagajerne ligger i garagen. = The paddles are lying in the garage.

Danish often chooses placement verbs more specifically than English does.

Because i garagen means in the garage, which is the place where the paddles end up.

After lægge, Danish normally uses the preposition that shows the resulting location:

• lægge noget i garagen = put something in the garage

Tilbage just adds the idea of back.

So:

• lægger pagajerne tilbage i garagen = put the paddles back in the garage

If you used til garagen, that would mean more like to the garage or toward the garage, not inside the garage.

Yes, in standard Danish this comma is normal because the sentence begins with a subordinate clause:

• Når vi kommer hjem fra vandreturen, tørrer vi teltet ...

The comma marks the end of the når-clause and the beginning of the main clause.

So the structure is:

• subordinate clause: Når vi kommer hjem fra vandreturen
• main clause: tørrer vi teltet og lægger pagajerne tilbage i garagen