Måske bliver vi hjemme i aften, hvis det regner.

Because Danish is a verb-second (V2) language in main clauses.

When Måske is placed first, it takes the first position in the sentence, so the finite verb must come next:

• Måske bliver vi hjemme i aften ...

Structure:

• Måske = position 1
• bliver = position 2
• vi = subject

This is different from English, where you would usually say Maybe we’ll stay home tonight.

If the subject comes first, then you get:

• Vi bliver måske hjemme i aften, hvis det regner.

Both are possible, but the word order changes because of the V2 rule.

Måske means maybe or perhaps.

In Danish, it can appear in different places depending on emphasis and sentence structure:

• Måske bliver vi hjemme i aften ...
• Vi bliver måske hjemme i aften ...

Starting with Måske makes the uncertainty feel more prominent. Putting it later can sound a bit more neutral.

A learner should especially notice that if Måske comes first in a main clause, Danish still keeps the verb in second position:

• Måske bliver vi ... not
• Måske vi bliver ...

Yes, at blive often means to become, but it also has other common uses.

In blive hjemme, it means stay or remain:

• Vi bliver hjemme = We stay home

This is a very common pattern in Danish:

• blive her = stay here
• blive inde = stay inside
• blive i sengen = stay in bed

So in this sentence, bliver does not mean become. It means stay.

This is an important Danish distinction.

• hjem usually expresses movement toward home
• hjemme expresses location at home

So:

• Vi går hjem = We go home
• Vi er hjemme = We are at home
• Vi bliver hjemme = We stay home

In your sentence, there is no movement toward home. The idea is remaining at home, so hjemme is the correct form.

I aften is the normal Danish expression for tonight.

It works like other time expressions:

• i dag = today
• i morgen = tomorrow
• i nat = tonight / at night

So:

• i aften = tonight

You usually do not say denne aften unless you mean something more specific like this particular evening in a special context.

And i aftenen is not the normal way to say tonight.

Because Danish often uses the present tense for future time, especially after words like hvis (if) and when the future is clear from context.

So:

• hvis det regner literally = if it rains but in context it means
• if it rains / if it’s raining later

English does something similar:

• If it rains, we’ll stay home not usually
• If it will rain, we’ll stay home

So this part is actually quite close to English.

In weather expressions, Danish often uses det as a dummy subject, just like English uses it:

• det regner = it is raining / it rains
• det sner = it is snowing
• det blæser = it is windy

Here, det does not refer to a specific thing. It is just grammatically required.

So det regner works very much like English it’s raining.

Because hvis det regner is a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses do not follow the same V2 rule as main clauses.

Main clause:

• Måske bliver vi hjemme i aften

Subordinate clause:

• hvis det regner

In the subordinate clause, the normal order is:

• conjunction + subject + verb

So:

• hvis det regner not
• hvis regner det

This is a key difference in Danish:

• main clause: verb usually in second position
• subordinate clause: subject usually comes before the verb

Yes, in standard Danish spelling, a subordinate clause introduced by hvis is normally separated with a comma:

• Måske bliver vi hjemme i aften, hvis det regner.

Danish comma rules can be a bit tricky, but with a sentence like this, the comma before the if-clause is standard and expected.

Yes, absolutely. You can say:

• Hvis det regner, bliver vi måske hjemme i aften.
• Hvis det regner, bliver vi hjemme i aften.

This changes the emphasis slightly. Starting with Hvis det regner puts the condition first.

Notice that the main clause still follows the V2 rule after the subordinate clause:

• Hvis det regner, bliver vi ... not
• Hvis det regner, vi bliver ...

So even when the if-clause comes first, the finite verb in the main clause still comes before the subject.

They are related, but not the same.

• Vi er hjemme i aften = We are at home tonight
• Vi bliver hjemme i aften = We are staying home tonight

Er hjemme describes a state or location. Bliver hjemme suggests a decision or plan to remain at home rather than go out.

In your sentence, bliver hjemme is the natural choice because the idea is:

• maybe we will stay home if it rains.

That sense of remaining at home instead of doing something else is exactly what bliver hjemme expresses.