Når alle har forstået teksten, kan vi gå videre.

Når introduces a time clause and means when in the sense of at the time that or once.

In Danish, når is commonly used for:

• things that happen regularly
• things expected to happen in the future
• general time relations

So in this sentence, Når alle har forstået teksten sets up the condition in time: first everyone understands the text, then something else happens.

A learner often compares this with hvis:

• når = when
• hvis = if

So this sentence is not really about uncertainty in the same way if would be. It is more like: once that point is reached, we can continue.

Har forstået is the present perfect:

• har = have
• forstået = understood

Danish uses the present perfect here to show that the understanding must be completed before the next action happens.

So:

• Når alle har forstået teksten, kan vi gå videre = once everyone has understood the text, we can move on.
• Når alle forstår teksten, kan vi gå videre is also possible in some contexts, but it sounds more like when everyone understands the text as a state, rather than emphasizing completion.

Using har forstået makes the sequence especially clear:

1. everyone finishes understanding
2. then we continue

Alle means everyone or all people here.

It is referring to people, even though it does not name them directly. In this sentence, it works like the subject of the subordinate clause:

• alle har forstået teksten

A useful point for English speakers: Danish alle can correspond to:

• all
• everyone
• everybody

Which English translation fits best depends on context, but the Danish form stays alle.

Teksten is the definite form of tekst, meaning the text.

Danish usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun:

• en tekst = a text
• teksten = the text

So instead of using a separate word like English the, Danish often uses an ending.

That is one of the first big structural differences English speakers notice:

• English: the text
• Danish: teksten

The comma separates the introductory subordinate clause from the main clause:

• Når alle har forstået teksten, = subordinate clause
• kan vi gå videre = main clause

This helps show where the first clause ends and the main statement begins.

For learners, the main thing to notice is not just the comma itself, but the fact that the sentence opens with a dependent clause and then moves into the main clause afterward.

This is because Danish is a verb-second language in main clauses.

The main clause here is:

• kan vi gå videre

In Danish main clauses, the finite verb usually comes in second position. Since the sentence starts with the subordinate clause Når alle har forstået teksten, that whole clause takes the first position. As a result, the finite verb in the main clause comes next:

• Når alle har forstået teksten, kan vi gå videre.

Not:

• Når alle har forstået teksten, vi kan gå videre.

This word order is very important in Danish.

A simple pattern to remember:

• first element: Når alle har forstået teksten
• second element: kan
• then subject: vi

Gå videre literally means go further or go on, but very often it is used idiomatically to mean:

• move on
• continue
• proceed

So in classroom, meeting, or discussion contexts, gå videre is a very natural expression.

Examples:

• Skal vi gå videre? = Shall we move on?
• Nu går vi videre til næste opgave. = Now we move on to the next exercise.

So this is a phrase worth learning as a chunk, not only word by word.

Mostly yes, but the nuance is worth noticing.

Kan can mean:

• can
• be able to
• sometimes may in the sense of possibility

In this sentence, kan vi gå videre means something like:

• we can move on
• we are able to move on
• it is now possible for us to move on

So it is not mainly about physical ability. It is more about the situation now allowing the next step.

Yes, that can be grammatical, but it is slightly different in feel.

Compare:

• Når alle har forstået teksten, kan vi gå videre

  • emphasizes completion
  • once everyone has understood it

• Når alle forstår teksten, kan vi gå videre

  • focuses more on the state of understanding
  • when everyone understands it

In many everyday situations, both could work. But har forstået often sounds a bit more natural if you want to stress that the class should continue only after everyone has fully reached that point.

Danish often uses the present tense or other non-future forms to talk about the future, especially when the time reference is already clear from context.

Here, the future meaning is understood from Når and from the logic of the sentence. Danish does not need a separate future form like English sometimes does.

So even though the sentence refers to a future point, Danish is perfectly happy with:

• Når alle har forstået teksten, kan vi gå videre

This is very normal Danish.

A rough learner-friendly guide is:

• forstået ≈ fo-STOH-eth

But the real pronunciation is softer and more connected than that rough English-style guide suggests.

A few helpful points:

• the stress is on -stå-
• the final -et is not pronounced like a strong English et
• in natural speech, the word may sound more compressed than learners expect

If you are practicing, it helps to say it slowly first:

• for - stå - et

Then gradually make it smoother.

Yes, very common.

This pattern appears all the time:

subordinate clause + comma + main clause with inverted word order

For example:

• Når du er klar, starter vi.
• Hvis det regner, bliver vi hjemme.
• Når timen er slut, går vi.

So this sentence is useful because it shows several very common features of Danish at once:

• a time clause with når
• perfect tense with har forstået
• a definite noun like teksten
• verb-second word order in the main clause: kan vi