Kan De se, om der mangler et spørgsmålstegn, et punktum eller måske et udråbstegn til sidst?

De is the formal/polite word for you in Danish. It is traditionally capitalized to show respect.

So:

• De = formal you
• du = informal you

In modern Danish, du is much more common in everyday speech. De can sound very formal, old-fashioned, or especially polite, depending on the context.

Because this is a yes/no question.

In Danish, yes/no questions usually put the finite verb first, then the subject:

• De kan se. = You can see.
• Kan De se ... ? = Can you see ... ?

This is similar to English word order in questions:

• You can see
• Can you see

Here om means whether or if.

It introduces an indirect question:

• Kan De se, om ... = Can you see whether/if ...

So the speaker is not directly asking Is something missing? They are asking whether the other person can determine that.

Der is often used in Danish in sentences where something exists, appears, is missing, is happening, and so on.

So:

• om der mangler et spørgsmålstegn = whether a question mark is missing

This der is not really the same as English there in a literal location sense. It is more like an introductory/expletive der.

You can sometimes say:

• om et spørgsmålstegn mangler

but om der mangler et spørgsmålstegn sounds more natural in this kind of sentence, especially when introducing something indefinite like et spørgsmålstegn.

Because after a subordinating word like om, Danish normally uses subordinate clause word order.

That means the subject element comes before the verb:

• om der mangler ...

Compare:

• main clause/question: Mangler der et punktum?
• subordinate clause: om der mangler et punktum

So Danish changes word order depending on whether the clause is a main clause or a subordinate clause.

Mangler comes from at mangle, which means to be missing, to lack, or to be absent.

In this sentence:

• der mangler et spørgsmålstegn = a question mark is missing

It does not mean that the punctuation mark itself lacks something. It means the sentence/text is missing that mark.

Because each noun is being presented as a separate possibility:

• et spørgsmålstegn
• et punktum
• et udråbstegn

Repeating the article makes the list clear and natural. English often does the same:

• a question mark, a period, or perhaps an exclamation mark

You might sometimes omit repeated articles in other contexts, but here repeating et is very normal.

Because they are neuter nouns in Danish.

So you say:

• et spørgsmålstegn
• et punktum
• et udråbstegn

A learner often has to memorize noun gender one word at a time. In this sentence, all three happen to take et.

Måske means maybe or perhaps.

Here it softens or broadens the final option:

• eller måske et udråbstegn = or perhaps an exclamation mark

It suggests that the speaker is considering another possible punctuation mark, maybe a slightly less expected one.

Til sidst means at the end or in the end.

In this sentence it means:

• at the end of the sentence/text

So:

• til sidst = at the end

This is a very natural Danish expression here. English would often say at the end rather than something more literal like to the end.

The comma is there because om der mangler ... is a subordinate clause.

In Danish, commas before subordinate clauses are connected to the comma system being used. Modern Danish allows both:

• Kan De se om der mangler ... ?
• Kan De se, om der mangler ... ?

The version with the comma is very common and fully correct.

So if you see the comma here, it is marking the beginning of the subordinate clause introduced by om.

Literally yes, but in this sentence it is closer to notice, tell, or check.

So Kan De se, om ... often means something like:

• Can you tell whether ...
• Can you see if ...
• Can you check whether ...

This is very common in Danish. The verb is still see, but the meaning is a bit broader than just visual perception.

Yes. Danish very often forms long compound nouns.

For example:

• spørgsmål

  • tegn = spørgsmålstegn
    (question
    • mark/sign = question mark)

• udråb

  • tegn = udråbstegn
    (exclamation
    • mark/sign = exclamation mark)

This is extremely common in Danish, so learners should get used to reading long words as smaller parts joined together.