Jeg lægger svømmebrillen i tasken, før vi tager til stranden.

Because lægge means to lay / to put something somewhere, while ligge means to lie / be located.

In this sentence, the subject jeg is actively placing the goggles into the bag, so Danish uses lægger:

• Jeg lægger svømmebrillen i tasken = I put the swimming goggles in the bag.

Compare:

• Svømmebrillen ligger i tasken = The swimming goggles are in the bag / are lying in the bag.

This is a very common Danish distinction:

• lægge = movement, putting something somewhere
• ligge = no movement, already in that place

Danish often treats items like goggles as a singular noun, even when English uses a plural form.

So:

• svømmebrille = a swimming goggle / swimming goggles
• svømmebrillen = the swimming goggles

This is similar to how some languages treat certain paired objects differently from English. Even though goggles have two lenses, Danish commonly uses the singular form.

The -en ending is the definite article attached to the noun. Danish often puts the at the end of the word instead of using a separate word.

So:

• svømmebrille = swimming goggles

• svømmebrillen = the swimming goggles

• taske = bag

• tasken = the bag

• strand = beach
• stranden = the beach

This is one of the most important features of Danish nouns.

Because i means in/inside, and here the goggles are being put inside the bag.

• i tasken = in the bag

If you said på tasken, it would mean on the bag or onto the bag, which is a different idea.

Danish prepositions often match English here:

• i = in
• på = on

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

So Jeg lægger svømmebrillen i tasken, før vi tager til stranden naturally means something like:

• I’m putting / I’ll put the swimming goggles in the bag before we go to the beach.

The words før and the situation make it clear that this refers to what is happening in connection with a future event. Danish does this very often, just like English can say:

• I leave tomorrow instead of
• I will leave tomorrow

Because after før (before), Danish uses a normal subordinate clause word order:

• før vi tager til stranden = before we go to the beach

Here, vi is the subject and tager is the verb, so the order is straightforward: subject + verb.

In this specific clause, nothing is being inverted. The clause begins with før, then comes the subject vi, then the verb tager.

In Danish, tage til can mean go to in many everyday contexts, especially when talking about heading somewhere.

So:

• vi tager til stranden = we go / are going to the beach

This is idiomatic Danish. You may also see gå til, køre til, rejse til, etc., depending on how someone goes somewhere or how formal the sentence is, but tage til is very common in speech.

Yes. Danish makes heavy use of compound nouns.

Here:

• svømme = swimming / to swim
• brille = glasses / lens / goggle

Together:

• svømmebrille = swimming goggles

And in the definite form:

• svømmebrillen = the swimming goggles

This is extremely common in Danish, and English speakers often need to get used to seeing long words formed this way.

Because in Danish, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as an ending.

So instead of saying:

• the bag
• the beach

Danish says:

• tasken
• stranden

You only use a separate definite word in certain other structures, such as when there is an adjective:

• stranden = the beach
• den smukke strand = the beautiful beach

Sometimes, but not always without changing the tone or structure a little.

• før vi tager til stranden = before we go to the beach

This is the most direct and natural option here.

Inden can also mean before, but it often appears in slightly different patterns, for example:

• inden vi tager til stranden

That can also work, but før is very common and straightforward in this sentence. For learners, før + clause is a very useful pattern to remember.

The æ in lægger is a front vowel that does not exist exactly the same way in standard English. It is somewhat like the vowel in cat for many English speakers, but you should not expect it to match perfectly.

A rough guide:

• lægger sounds approximately like LEH-ger, with a soft Danish g

A few important notes:

• Danish æ is a very common vowel, so it is worth practicing early.
• The gg does not sound like a hard English g in go.
• Danish pronunciation is often softer and less fully pronounced than the spelling suggests.

If you are focusing mainly on grammar for now, it is enough to recognize lægger as the present tense of lægge.

Yes, you often can.

• putte i = put into
• lægge i = lay/put into

Both can work in everyday Danish, but they are not always identical in feel.

• lægge is a very standard choice when placing an object somewhere.
• putte can sound a bit more like pop/put/stick something into something.

So Jeg putter svømmebrillen i tasken is natural, but Jeg lægger svømmebrillen i tasken is also perfectly normal and slightly more neutral in many contexts.

Yes, in standard Danish spelling, a comma before a subordinate clause like this is normal:

• Jeg lægger svømmebrillen i tasken, før vi tager til stranden.

Danish comma rules have varied historically and there are some style differences, but in normal modern written Danish, this comma is standard and expected.