Min bror arbejder sjusket, når han har travlt, men min mor er altid nøjagtig, når hun læser kontrakter.

Min means my.

Danish possessives change according to the noun that follows:

• min
  • common gender singular noun
• mit
  • neuter singular noun
• mine
  • plural noun

So:

• min bror = my brother
• min mor = my mother
• mit hus = my house
• mine bøger = my books

Both bror and mor are common-gender singular nouns, so min is correct.

Yes. They are all present-tense forms:

• arbejder = works / is working
• har = has
• er = is / are
• læser = reads / is reading

A useful point for English speakers: Danish present tense often covers both English simple present and present continuous. So hun læser can mean either she reads or she is reading, depending on context.

In this sentence, because of når and the general meaning, it is understood as a habitual situation: when she reads contracts.

This is a very common Danish pattern. Danish often uses an adjective form where English would use an -ly adverb.

So:

• arbejder sjusket = works sloppily
• literally, Danish is using sjusket to describe how he works

English usually makes a clear adjective/adverb distinction:

• sloppy = adjective
• sloppily = adverb

Danish often does not do that in the same way. So it is best to learn arbejde sjusket as a natural expression meaning to work sloppily/carelessly.

Because nøjagtig is describing min mor, and mor is a common-gender singular noun.

After er, Danish uses a predicate adjective, and that adjective agrees with the subject:

• min mor er nøjagtig
• arbejdet er nøjagtigt
• de er nøjagtige

So:

• common singular: nøjagtig
• neuter singular: nøjagtigt
• plural: nøjagtige

That is why min mor er altid nøjagtig is correct.

Here når means when or whenever.

It is used for something that happens regularly, generally, or as part of a repeated situation:

• når han har travlt = when/whenever he is busy
• når hun læser kontrakter = when/whenever she reads contracts

By contrast, hvis means if:

• Hvis han har travlt, arbejder han sjusket = If he is busy, he works sloppily

In many real-life cases, English may allow either when or if, but Danish usually keeps the distinction clearer.

At have travlt is a very common idiomatic expression meaning to be busy or to be in a hurry.

So:

• han har travlt = he is busy

This is the most natural way to say it in everyday Danish.

You can sometimes see travl used with være, but have travlt is the standard expression for someone being busy at a particular time or in a particular situation. So learners should treat have travlt as a set phrase.

Because kontrakter is an indefinite plural used in a general sense.

So hun læser kontrakter means something like:

• she reads contracts
• she reads contracts as a general activity

If you wanted to refer to specific contracts, you would usually say:

• hun læser kontrakterne = she is reading the contracts
• hun læser nogle kontrakter = she is reading some contracts

Also, kontrakter is the plural form of kontrakt.

Because når introduces a subordinate clause.

In Danish main clauses, the finite verb normally comes in second position. But in subordinate clauses, that verb-second rule does not apply in the same way.

So you get:

• Min bror arbejder sjusket
  main clause

but:

• når han har travlt
  subordinate clause

Not:

• når har han travlt

This is one of the big word-order differences learners need to get used to.

Because that is the normal position for an adverb like altid in a main clause.

The usual order here is:

• subject + finite verb + adverb + complement

So:

• min mor
  • er
    • altid
      • nøjagtig

This is the neutral, standard word order. English speakers often want to compare it to my mother is always accurate, which is very similar.

The comma before men is standard, because men joins two main clauses here:

• Min bror arbejder sjusket ...
• men min mor er altid nøjagtig ...

The commas before når mark subordinate clauses.

A practical note: in modern Danish, comma use before subordinate clauses can vary depending on the comma system being followed, so learners may sometimes see these commas omitted. But the comma before men is the most important one to recognize here.

Because men is just a coordinating conjunction, not the first element of the clause in the same way an adverb can be.

After men, Danish starts a new main clause with normal word order:

• min mor er altid nøjagtig

So the subject stays before the verb:

• men min mor er ...

You would only get inversion if some other element was placed first inside the clause itself, for example:

• I dag er min mor nøjagtig
• Når hun læser kontrakter, er min mor nøjagtig