Jeg rører i gryden, mens suppen koger.

Danish usually uses the simple present for actions happening right now. So Jeg rører i gryden can naturally mean I am stirring the pot in English.

Unlike English, Danish does not normally need a special progressive form like am stirring or is cooking for this kind of sentence.

Because røre i noget is the usual way to say stir in something or stir the contents of something.

So:

• røre i gryden = stir in the pot / stir what is in the pot
• røre gryden = touch or move the pot itself, or possibly stir the pot in a less natural way

The i is important because it shows that the action happens inside the pot.

Yes, sometimes you can. Jeg rører suppen means I stir the soup, with the soup itself as the direct object.

But Jeg rører i gryden is slightly different in focus. It emphasizes that you are stirring around in the pot. In a cooking situation, that sounds very natural.

So both can make sense, but they are not exactly identical.

Because they are in the definite singular form.

In Danish, the equivalent of English the is often added to the end of the noun:

• en gryde = a pot
• gryden = the pot
• en suppe = a soup
• suppen = the soup

So instead of putting a separate word like the before the noun, Danish often uses a suffix.

Mens means while. It links two actions that happen at the same time:

• Jeg rører i gryden = the main action
• mens suppen koger = the action happening at the same time

So mens introduces the background or simultaneous action.

Because mens introduces a subordinate clause, and here the clause has normal subject + verb order:

• suppen = subject
• koger = verb

So mens suppen koger literally means while the soup boils/cooks.

This is different from main-clause word order patterns where Danish often follows V2 rules.

The verb koge literally means boil, but in cooking contexts it can be broader than that.

With soup, koger can mean things like:

• is boiling
• is cooking
• is simmering

The best English translation depends on context. It does not always mean a violent, bubbling boil.

The comma marks the boundary between the main clause and the subordinate clause.

In Danish, you will often see a comma before words like mens when they introduce a subordinate clause:

• Jeg rører i gryden, mens suppen koger.

You may also see the comma omitted, depending on the comma system the writer follows. So the comma here is very normal, but it is useful to know that variation exists.

Yes:

Mens suppen koger, rører jeg i gryden.

That is completely natural. But when the subordinate clause comes first, the main clause keeps Danish V2 word order, so you get:

• rører jeg
• not jeg rører

That word order change is very important in Danish.

A few useful points:

• rører: stress the first syllable, RØR-er
• gryden: stress the first syllable, GRY-den

The tricky vowels are:

• ø in rører: there is no exact English equivalent
• y in gryden: also has no exact English equivalent for most English speakers

A rough comparison is:

• Danish ø is somewhat like the vowel in French bleu or German schön
• Danish y is somewhat like the vowel in French tu or German über

Also, the d in gryden is usually a soft Danish d, not a strong English d.

For pronunciation, listening to native audio is especially helpful here, because both ø and y are unfamiliar sounds for many English speakers.