Tilfældigvis sad hendes søster også i caféen, og desuden havde hun allerede bestilt kaffe.

Danish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb normally comes in the second position in main clauses.

So when Tilfældigvis is placed first for emphasis, the verb sad must come next:

• Tilfældigvis sad hendes søster også i caféen.

If you started with the subject, you would get:

• Hendes søster sad tilfældigvis også i caféen.

Both are correct, but the first version gives a little more focus to by coincidence.

Tilfældigvis means by chance, coincidentally, or as it happened.

In this sentence, it tells us that it was not planned that the sister was there too. It adds the idea of coincidence.

In Danish, verbs like sidde can often be used where English would simply use be.

• sidde = sit, be sitting
• stå = stand, be standing
• ligge = lie, be lying

So hendes søster sad også i caféen literally means her sister was also sitting in the café, but in natural English it may simply be translated as her sister was also in the café.

Using sad gives a slightly more physical, visual sense: she was there, seated.

I caféen means in the café.

With places like cafés, shops, schools, and buildings, Danish often uses i when talking about being physically inside.

• i caféen = in the café

In some contexts, Danish can use på with places too, but i caféen is the straightforward choice when you mean inside the café building.

Yes, they are similar, but they do different jobs.

• og = and
• desuden = besides, furthermore, in addition

So:

• og desuden havde hun allerede bestilt kaffe

means something like:

• and besides, she had already ordered coffee
• and furthermore, she had already ordered coffee

The sentence first adds another fact with og, and then strengthens it with desuden.

They are both adding information, but in different ways.

• også = also / too
• desuden = besides / furthermore / in addition

In the first clause:

• hendes søster også i caféen
• her sister was also in the café

This means the sister is an additional person present.

In the second clause:

• desuden havde hun allerede bestilt kaffe
• besides / furthermore, she had already ordered coffee

This adds a second supporting detail, not just another person or thing. So også is more simple and direct, while desuden sounds a bit more like what’s more.

Havde bestilt is the past perfect.

It shows that the ordering happened before another point in the past.

So the sequence is:

1. She ordered coffee.
2. At the time being described, her sister was also in the café.

That is why Danish uses:

• havde bestilt = had ordered

If you said bestilte, it would just be simple past and would not show that same clear earlier-before-past relationship.

In Danish, adverbs like allerede often come after the finite verb and before the main participle or infinitive.

So:

• havde allerede bestilt

This is the normal word order.

Compare:

• hun havde allerede bestilt kaffe
• she had already ordered coffee

This placement is very common with adverbs such as allerede, ikke, ofte, and nok.

Most naturally, hun refers to hendes søster.

So the meaning is usually:

• Her sister was also in the café, and besides, she had already ordered coffee.

However, grammatically, Danish pronouns can sometimes be ambiguous if two female people are being discussed in the wider context. Without more context, a reader will normally assume hun refers to the most recent female noun, which is hendes søster.

This is a very common question for English speakers.

• sin/sit/sine is a reflexive possessive and refers back to the subject of the clause.
• hendes means her, referring to some female person who is not the subject of that clause.

In:

• Tilfældigvis sad hendes søster også i caféen

the subject is hendes søster. The possessor is some other female person already known from context. So hendes is correct.

If Danish used sin søster, it would mean that the subject possessed the sister, which does not make sense in the same way here.

Because kaffe is being used as an uncountable mass noun, like coffee in English.

So:

• bestilt kaffe = ordered coffee

This is just like English, where you can say:

• She ordered coffee

If you wanted to specify one coffee, Danish could say something like:

• en kaffe

but here the sentence is speaking more generally.

Yes, that is grammatically possible, but the emphasis changes slightly.

• Tilfældigvis sad hendes søster også i caféen emphasizes the coincidence right away.
• Hendes søster sad også tilfældigvis i caféen puts the subject first and gives slightly less prominence to the coincidence.

The basic meaning stays the same, but Danish word order often affects focus and style.

Yes. Caféen means the café.

In Danish, the definite article is often added to the end of the noun:

• en café = a café
• caféen = the café

This is one of the main features English speakers need to get used to in Danish: instead of a separate word like the, Danish often uses a suffix.

This is standard Danish punctuation when two main clauses are joined.

Here you have:

1. Tilfældigvis sad hendes søster også i caféen
2. desuden havde hun allerede bestilt kaffe

Each part could stand as its own clause, so the comma helps separate them clearly. Danish comma rules can vary a bit depending on the comma system being followed, but this kind of comma is very normal.