Min far rejser sig for at skåle, og derefter lykønsker han værten med det nye hus.

At rejse sig is a reflexive verb phrase meaning to stand up / get up.

• rejser = present tense of rejse
• sig = reflexive pronoun, referring back to the subject han

So han rejser sig literally means something like he raises himself, but in natural English it is simply he stands up.

This is important because rejse by itself often means to travel. So:

• Han rejser = He is travelling
• Han rejser sig = He stands up

With other subjects, the reflexive pronoun changes:

• jeg rejser mig
• du rejser dig
• han/hun rejser sig
• vi rejser os

For at + infinitive is a very common way to express purpose, like to or in order to in English.

So:

• rejser sig for at skåle = stands up to make a toast
• literally: stands up in order to toast

This structure is very common in Danish:

• Jeg gik ud for at købe mælk = I went out to buy milk
• Hun kom for at hjælpe = She came to help

At skåle means to make a toast, to drink a toast, or to clink glasses and say cheers.

It is related to the word skål, which is what people say when raising glasses: cheers.

So in this sentence, it suggests a social situation where the father stands up and proposes or joins a toast.

It does not mean to toast bread. For that, Danish uses other wording, such as riste brød.

Because the sentence contains two main clauses joined by og:

1. Min far rejser sig for at skåle
2. derefter lykønsker han værten med det nye hus

In standard Danish punctuation, it is normal to put a comma between coordinated main clauses, including before og.

So this is standard:

• Min far rejser sig for at skåle, og derefter lykønsker han værten ...

This is one place where Danish punctuation may look a bit more comma-friendly than everyday English.

Because Danish main clauses normally follow the V2 rule: the finite verb comes in the second position.

In the second clause, derefter is placed first. That means the verb must come next:

• derefter lykønsker han værten

not:

• derefter han lykønsker værten

So the pattern is:

• Han lykønsker værten derefter = subject first
• Derefter lykønsker han værten = adverb first, so verb comes before subject

The og does not cancel the normal main-clause word order.

At lykønske means to congratulate.

Its pattern here is:

• lykønske nogen med noget = to congratulate someone on something

So:

• lykønsker han værten med det nye hus

breaks down as:

• han = subject
• værten = the person being congratulated
• med det nye hus = the reason/occasion

A very common spoken alternative is:

• Han siger tillykke med det nye hus
• Han ønsker værten tillykke med det nye hus

But lykønske is perfectly correct and slightly more formal.

Because værten is the definite singular form: the host.

The forms are:

• en vært = a host
• værten = the host

In this sentence, it refers to a specific host already identifiable in the situation, so Danish uses the definite form.

This is because the noun phrase is definite.

In Danish, adjectives usually take -e in definite phrases:

• det nye hus = the new house
• den gamle bil = the old car

If the phrase were indefinite, then a neuter singular adjective would usually take -t:

• et nyt hus = a new house

So compare:

• et nyt hus = a new house
• det nye hus = the new house

The -e on nye is exactly what you expect in a definite phrase.

Yes, min far means my father.

In Danish, possessives like min, din, hans, vores already make the noun phrase definite enough, so you do not add an article.

So:

• min far = my father
• not den min far

Also, far in everyday Danish often feels closer to dad than to the more formal English word father, though the best translation depends on context.

They overlap, but they are not always identical.

• derefter = after that / then
• bagefter = afterwards / later after that
• så = then / so

In this sentence, derefter works well because it clearly marks the next action in a sequence.

Very roughly:

• derefter can sound a bit more structured or written
• bagefter is often a little more conversational
• så is extremely common in speech for simple sequencing

So you may also hear:

• ... og bagefter lykønsker han værten ...
• ... og så lykønsker han værten ...

But derefter is completely natural here.