Kan du videresende beskeden til hende, hvis jeg ikke når at svare?

A useful chunk-by-chunk breakdown is:

• Kan du = can you / could you
• videresende = forward, pass on
• beskeden = the message
• til hende = to her
• hvis = if
• jeg ikke når at svare = I don’t manage to reply / I don’t get around to answering in time

So a natural English version is something like:

• Can you forward the message to her if I don’t get a chance to reply?

Because this is a question/request.

In Danish yes/no questions, the finite verb usually comes first:

• Du kan videresende beskeden. = You can forward the message.
• Kan du videresende beskeden? = Can you forward the message?

So kan du is the normal question order.

It is very commonly used for polite requests.

So Kan du videresende beskeden ...? does not mainly ask about ability. In context, it means something like:

• Can you forward the message ...?
• Could you forward the message ...?

It is a normal, polite everyday way to ask someone to do something.

Videresende means to forward or to send on.

It is a compound verb:

• videre = onward, further
• sende = send

Danish often forms compounds as one word, so videresende is completely normal.

You may also hear a very similar structure with the parts separated in other sentence patterns, for example:

• Jeg sender beskeden videre. = I am passing the message on.

So videresende and sende videre are closely related.

Because beskeden is the definite form: the message.

Compare:

• en besked = a message
• beskeden = the message

Danish often adds the definite ending directly to the noun. Here the speaker means a specific message that both people already know about.

Because after a preposition like til (to), Danish uses the object pronoun, not the subject pronoun.

Compare:

• hun = she
• hende = her

So:

• Hun svarer. = She replies.
• til hende = to her

This is similar to English: you say to her, not to she.

Hvis means if and introduces a subordinate clause.

That matters because word order changes in subordinate clauses in Danish.

Here:

• hvis jeg ikke når at svare

In a main clause, the negation often comes later:

• Jeg når ikke at svare.

But after hvis, the clause is subordinate, so ikke comes before the finite verb:

• hvis jeg ikke når ...

That is a very important Danish word-order pattern.

Because subordinate clauses in Danish usually place sentence adverbs like ikke before the finite verb.

So:

• Main clause: Jeg når ikke at svare.
• Subordinate clause: hvis jeg ikke når at svare

This is one of the classic differences between main-clause and subordinate-clause word order in Danish.

Here nå at + infinitive means:

• manage to
• have time to
• get around to

So jeg ikke når at svare does not literally mean only I don’t reach to answer. It means:

• I don’t manage to reply
• I don’t get a chance to answer in time

This is a very common Danish pattern:

• Jeg nåede ikke at spise. = I didn’t have time to eat.
• Hun når nok at komme. = She’ll probably make it in time to come / arrive.

Because nå in this meaning normally takes at + infinitive:

• nå at svare
• nå at spise
• nå at ringe

So:

• jeg ikke når at svare = I don’t manage to reply

Notice that this is different from modal verbs like kan, which do not take at:

• kan videresende
• not kan at videresende

It can be omitted because the context already makes it clear.

The sentence already mentions beskeden, so svare on its own is natural here. The meaning is understood as replying to that message.

You could make it more explicit, for example:

• hvis jeg ikke når at svare på beskeden

But that is not necessary. Danish often leaves out information that is obvious from context.

Either can fit, but reply is often the more natural English choice in this context.

• svare can mean answer
• It can also mean reply

Because the sentence is about a message, English often prefers reply:

• if I don’t manage to reply

But answer is not wrong if the context supports it.

Yes.

Danish often uses the present tense for future meaning when the context makes the time clear.

So:

• hvis jeg ikke når at svare

is present in form, but it refers to a possible future situation:

• if I don’t manage to reply
• if I don’t get a chance to answer

English does this too in many if clauses.

Yes. Both are natural.

• videresende beskeden
• sende beskeden videre

Both mean forward the message / pass the message on.

Videresende may sound slightly more compact or a little more formal in some contexts, especially in writing, but both are perfectly normal Danish.

Because hvis jeg ikke når at svare is a subordinate clause, and it is very common in written Danish to separate it with a comma.

So the comma helps show the structure:

• main clause: Kan du videresende beskeden til hende
• subordinate clause: hvis jeg ikke når at svare

You may also see variation in comma usage depending on writing style and comma system, but the comma here is very normal.