I dag lærer vi om ordstilling i en hovedsætning, hvor verbet normalt står på anden plads.

Because Danish main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must come in the second position.

Here, I dag is placed first, so lærer must come second, and vi comes after the verb.

Compare:

• Vi lærer om ordstilling i dag.
• I dag lærer vi om ordstilling.

Both are correct, but when I dag is moved to the front, the verb has to move in front of the subject.

It counts as one position.

In Danish word order, we count sentence parts or constituents, not individual words. So the whole time expression I dag takes the first slot, and then the verb goes into the second slot.

That is why:

• I dag = first position
• lærer = second position

Danish does not have a separate tense like the English present progressive with -ing.

So lærer can mean both:

• learn
• are learning

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, it naturally means something like are learning or learn today.

Because ordstilling is being used in a general, abstract sense.

After om when you are talking about a topic or subject in general, Danish often uses the noun without an article:

• om grammatik
• om udtale
• om ordstilling

If you added an article, it would sound more like a specific, already-known word order.

Because hovedsætning is a common-gender noun in Danish, so it takes en.

In Danish, nouns are either:

• common gender → en
• neuter → et

So:

• en hovedsætning
• not et hovedsætning

Because the sentence is talking about a main clause in general, not one specific main clause.

• en hovedsætning = a main clause
• hovedsætningen = the main clause

Here the speaker is explaining a rule about main clauses as a type, so the indefinite form is the natural choice.

Hvor introduces a clause that refers back to en hovedsætning.

Here it means something like:

• where
• in which

So en hovedsætning, hvor verbet normalt står på anden plads means a main clause, where/in which the verb normally stands in second position.

In Danish, hvor is very commonly used in this kind of structure, even when the noun is not a physical place.

Because this is a subordinate clause, not a main clause.

Danish subordinate clauses do not use the main-clause V2 pattern. Instead, the order is more like:

• subject
• adverb
• finite verb

So:

• hvor verbet normalt står = correct

But:

• hvor står verbet normalt sounds like a direct question or main-clause word order, so it does not fit here.

This contrast is very important in Danish:

• Main clause: I dag lærer vi ...
• Subordinate clause: ... hvor verbet normalt står ...

In Danish grammar explanations, stå is often used to mean that a word or form is positioned somewhere in the sentence.

So verbet står på anden plads literally means the verb stands in second place, but idiomatically it means:

• the verb is in second position
• the verb appears in second position

This is a very normal way to talk about word order in Danish.

Because Danish uses på in this expression when talking about position in an order or sequence.

So:

• stå på anden plads = be in second position

Using i here would sound wrong.

This is just the normal Danish pattern for this kind of abstract positional meaning.

Because plads is a common-gender noun, and anden agrees with it.

• en plads → anden
• et sted → andet

So you get:

• på anden plads
• but, for a neuter noun, you might get på andet sted in a different context

Because this phrase is being used in a general, abstract way to mean in second position.

If you said på den anden plads, it would sound more like:

• on the second seat/place
• in the specific second place

Here, the sentence is describing a grammar rule, so the more abstract expression på anden plads is the natural one.

Yes, absolutely.

For example:

• Vi lærer i dag om ordstilling i en hovedsætning.
• I dag lærer vi om ordstilling i en hovedsætning.

Both are correct. The difference is mainly focus:

• Vi lærer i dag ... puts the sentence topic more on we
• I dag lærer vi ... highlights today

Fronting I dag is very common in Danish, and when you do that, the verb must follow it because of the V2 rule.