Hele processen med at flytte tog længere tid end forventet, fordi elevatoren ikke virkede.

Because hel/hele is the normal word for whole / entire in this kind of phrase.

• hele processen = the whole process
• hele dagen = the whole day
• hele huset = the whole house

al/alt/alle usually means all rather than whole:

• al tid = all time
• alle mennesker = all people
• alt arbejdet = all the work

So here, hele processen is the natural choice because we are talking about one complete process.

The -en is the definite article attached to the noun.

In Danish, instead of usually saying the process, you attach the article to the noun:

• en proces = a process
• processen = the process

So:

• hele processen = the whole process

This is very common in Danish. English uses a separate word (the), but Danish often puts it at the end of the noun.

Here, med at flytte means something like of moving or involved in moving.

So:

• processen med at flytte = the process of moving

This is a very common Danish pattern:

• arbejdet med at bygge huset = the work of building the house
• planen om at rejse = the plan to travel

Literally, med at can look like with to move, but in real usage it often corresponds to English of doing, for doing, or in doing, depending on context.

It can mean both, and context tells you which one is meant.

Common uses:

• Jeg flytter i morgen. = I’m moving tomorrow.
• Jeg flytter bordet. = I’m moving the table.

In this sentence, at flytte most likely refers to moving house / relocating, because it mentions a broken elevator and the process taking longer than expected.

So even though flytte is broad, the context makes the intended meaning clear.

Because Danish, like English, often says that something takes time.

• tage tid = to take time
• tog = past tense of tage

So:

• Hele processen ... tog længere tid = The whole process ... took longer

This is a very natural expression in Danish.

Examples:

• Det tog lang tid. = It took a long time.
• Det tog længere tid end forventet. = It took longer than expected.

Because længere is the comparative form: longer.

• lang tid = a long time
• længere tid = a longer time / longer

Since the sentence compares reality with expectation, Danish uses the comparative:

• tog længere tid end forventet = took longer than expected

So the comparison word end triggers the comparative idea.

Both are possible, but end forventet is a shorter, very natural Danish expression.

It means:

• than expected
• literally something like than expected

You can also say:

• end man forventede = than one expected / than people expected
• end forventet = than expected

The shorter version is common when the meaning is obvious. It sounds concise and natural.

Because fordi introduces a subordinate clause, and Danish standard punctuation normally puts a comma before subordinate clauses.

So the sentence is divided like this:

• Hele processen med at flytte tog længere tid end forventet,
• fordi elevatoren ikke virkede.

This is a normal Danish comma pattern.

Because subordinate clauses in Danish usually have negation before the finite verb.

Compare:

Main clause

• Elevatoren virkede ikke. = The elevator didn’t work.

Subordinate clause

• ... fordi elevatoren ikke virkede. = ... because the elevator didn’t work.

This is one of the most important word-order differences in Danish.

A useful rule:

• In a main clause, the finite verb often comes early, and ikke usually comes after it.
• In a subordinate clause, ikke usually comes before the finite verb.

Here, virke means to work / to function.

For machines, devices, systems, etc., Danish often uses virke:

• Computeren virker ikke. = The computer doesn’t work.
• Låsen virkede fint. = The lock worked fine.
• Elevatoren ikke virkede = the elevator didn’t work

So this is not about working in the sense of doing a job. It means the elevator was not functioning.

Because the whole sentence describes a completed situation in the past:

• the moving process took longer
• the elevator didn’t work

So Danish uses past tense in both parts:

• tog = took
• virkede = worked / was working / functioned

Using present tense (virker) would suggest that the elevator does not work now, which is not the point of this sentence.

It is quite straightforward Danish main-clause word order.

The structure is:

• Hele processen med at flytte = subject
• tog = finite verb
• længere tid = object/complement
• end forventet = comparison phrase

So it follows the normal main-clause pattern where the finite verb comes early.

A key point is that the entire phrase Hele processen med at flytte acts as one subject.

Yes, in many contexts you could.

• flytteprocessen = the moving process
• processen med at flytte = the process of moving

The version in your sentence is slightly more expanded and explicit. It may sound a bit more natural in everyday speech because it clearly spells out the action.

Both are understandable, but processen med at flytte is very idiomatic and easy to process.

It comes from the verb forvente (to expect) and is being used in a shortened expression.

In end forventet, it behaves a bit like expected in English than expected. You do not need to think of it as a full adjective phrase with a noun after it. It is more like an abbreviated clause.

You can think of it as standing for something like:

• end man havde forventet
• end det var forventet

But Danish very often shortens this to simply:

• end forventet

That is why it may feel compact compared with English.