Vi sidder rundt om bålet om aftenen.

Sidder is the present tense of sidde, which means to be sitting.

Danish often uses posture verbs like:

• sidde = sit / be sitting
• stå = stand / be standing
• ligge = lie / be lying

So Vi sidder ... is more natural than Vi er ... when you want to say what position people are in.

Compare:

• Vi sidder rundt om bålet. = We are sitting around the bonfire.
• Vi er rundt om bålet. = We are around the bonfire.
  This is possible, but it does not specifically say you are sitting.
• Vi sætter os rundt om bålet. = We sit down around the bonfire.
  This describes the movement of sitting down, not the state of already being seated.

So in this sentence, sidder is the right choice because it describes the position/state.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Danish present tense often covers both:

• the simple present: we sit
• the present progressive: we are sitting

In this sentence, because of om aftenen, it most naturally sounds habitual:

• Vi sidder rundt om bålet om aftenen.
• We sit around the bonfire in the evening / in the evenings.

Without that time phrase, it could also mean We are sitting around the bonfire if the context makes that clear.

Rundt om means around.

It is a very common expression for physical position:

• rundt om bordet = around the table
• rundt om huset = around the house
• rundt om bålet = around the bonfire

Literally, rundt is related to round, and om often means around/about, but together rundt om works as the normal phrase for around in a spatial sense.

Because they belong to two different expressions.

1. rundt om bålet
   Here om is part of the spatial expression rundt om = around

2. om aftenen
   Here om is part of a time expression meaning in the evening / in the evenings

So even though the same word appears twice, it is doing two different jobs:

• one for place
• one for time

Because bålet means the bonfire / the fire, while bål means a bonfire / bonfire in a more general sense.

The basic noun is:

• et bål = a bonfire / a fire

It is a neuter noun, so the definite singular form is:

• bålet = the bonfire

So:

• Vi sidder rundt om bålet. = We are sitting around the bonfire.
• Vi sidder rundt om et bål. = We are sitting around a bonfire.

In Danish, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun, instead of being a separate word like English the.

Om aftenen means in the evening or in the evenings, depending on context.

In this sentence it most likely has a general/habitual meaning:

• Vi sidder rundt om bålet om aftenen.
• We sit around the bonfire in the evenings.

A very important comparison is:

• om aftenen = in the evening / in the evenings
• i aften = tonight

So:

• Vi sidder rundt om bålet om aftenen. = This is something we do in the evening(s), generally.
• Vi sidder rundt om bålet i aften. = We are sitting around the bonfire tonight.

This is a common Danish pattern in time expressions.

Danish often uses om + definite singular with parts of the day:

• om morgenen = in the morning
• om dagen = during the day / in the daytime
• om aftenen = in the evening
• om natten = at night

So even when English might use a bare noun or even a plural idea, Danish often prefers the definite singular form.

That is why om aftenen is natural, while om aften would not be the normal form here.

You can move it, but then Danish follows its usual verb-second rule in main clauses.

The original sentence:

• Vi sidder rundt om bålet om aftenen.

You can also say:

• Om aftenen sidder vi rundt om bålet.

Both are correct.

Notice what happens in the second version:

• Om aftenen comes first
• the verb sidder still stays in the second position
• the subject vi comes after the verb

This is a very important Danish word-order pattern.

Yes. Omkring bålet is also correct and means almost the same thing.

Compare:

• rundt om bålet
• omkring bålet

Both mean around the bonfire.

A rough difference is:

• rundt om can feel a bit more concrete or visual, as if people are physically sitting in a circle
• omkring is also very common, and can sound slightly more neutral

So:

• Vi sidder rundt om bålet om aftenen.
• Vi sidder omkring bålet om aftenen.

Both are good Danish.

Yes, but it changes the meaning slightly.

• rundt om bålet = around the bonfire
• ved bålet = by the bonfire / at the bonfire

So ved bålet tells you that the people are near the fire, but it does not specifically suggest they are arranged around it.

Compare:

• Vi sidder rundt om bålet. = We are sitting around the bonfire.
• Vi sidder ved bålet. = We are sitting by the bonfire.

If the idea of a circle or surrounding the fire matters, rundt om bålet is better.