Jeg er egentlig ikke så glemsom derhjemme, men på kontoret glemmer jeg netop de små ting.

Egentlig often means actually, really, or basically, but in many sentences it adds more of a nuance than a concrete meaning.

Here, Jeg er egentlig ikke så glemsom derhjemme suggests something like:

• I’m not really that forgetful at home
• I’m actually not that forgetful at home

It softens the statement a little and makes it sound more natural and conversational. Danish uses words like egentlig very often in everyday speech.

They are related, but they are different parts of speech:

• glemsom = forgetful (an adjective, describing a person)
• glemmer = forget (a verb, describing an action)

So:

• Jeg er ... glemsom = I am ... forgetful
• jeg glemmer ... = I forget ...

The sentence first describes the speaker’s general tendency at home, then describes what happens at the office.

Ikke så glemsom means not so forgetful or not that forgetful. It is softer and more natural here than the stronger ikke glemsom, which would sound more like not forgetful in a very direct, absolute way.

Compare:

• Jeg er ikke glemsom = I am not forgetful
• Jeg er ikke så glemsom = I am not that forgetful / not so forgetful

The version with så sounds more natural in this sentence because the speaker is making a mild contrast, not a total denial.

Derhjemme is a fixed adverb meaning at home.

It is very common in Danish and is best learned as one unit. It does not literally work the same way as English there + home in modern usage.

Examples:

• Jeg er derhjemme = I am at home
• Han arbejder derhjemme = He works from home / at home

So in your sentence, derhjemme simply means at home.

Danish often uses på with places where an activity happens, especially workplaces, institutions, and similar locations.

So:

• på kontoret = at the office
• på skolen = at the school
• på hospitalet = at the hospital

If you said i kontoret, it would sound more like inside the office room, focusing more on physical interior space. In this sentence, the idea is the workplace setting, so på kontoret is the natural choice.

This is because Danish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

In the second clause, på kontoret is placed first for emphasis:

• På kontoret = first element
• glemmer = verb in second position
• jeg = subject after the verb

So:

• På kontoret glemmer jeg netop de små ting

If the subject came first, it would be:

• Jeg glemmer netop de små ting på kontoret

Both are possible, but they emphasize the sentence differently. Starting with på kontoret highlights the contrast with derhjemme.

Netop often means exactly, precisely, or just.

In this sentence, it adds emphasis to de små ting:

• glemmer jeg netop de små ting = I forget precisely the small things
• more naturally: it’s exactly the little things that I forget

It draws attention to the fact that the speaker forgets those particular things, maybe surprisingly.

De små ting means the small things or the little things.

Using de makes the phrase definite. In context, this often refers to a recognizable category: the little details, the minor things, the small practical items people commonly forget.

If you said små ting, that would be more indefinite:

• Jeg glemmer små ting = I forget small things
• Jeg glemmer de små ting = I forget the little things / those small things

The definite form sounds more natural here because the speaker is talking about a familiar type of thing.

The contrast is already built into the sentence through:

• men = but
• the placement of på kontoret at the start of the second clause
• the use of netop for emphasis

So Danish does not need anything more. The structure itself creates the contrast:

• derhjemme = at home
• men på kontoret = but at the office

That is a very natural Danish way to set up the comparison.

Yes, in standard Danish writing, a comma before men is normal here because men joins two main clauses:

• Jeg er egentlig ikke så glemsom derhjemme
• men på kontoret glemmer jeg netop de små ting

Each part could stand as a sentence on its own, so the comma is appropriate.

Yes, you could say hjemme, and it would still be understandable and natural in many situations.

But there is a slight difference:

• hjemme = home / at home
• derhjemme = at home, often with a slightly more specific or idiomatic feel

In many sentences they are very close. Derhjemme can sound a bit more anchored to the home setting, while hjemme is slightly simpler and broader.

So both are possible, but derhjemme works very well in this sentence.