Er der stadig et ledigt bord på caféen i aften?

Because er der is the standard Danish way to ask an existence question: Is there / Are there ...?

• Der er et bord. = There is a table.
• Er der et bord? = Is there a table?

Here:

• er = is
• der = the there used in there is / there are

So Er der stadig et ledigt bord ...? literally follows the same pattern as Is there still a free table ...?

Stadig means still.

So the sentence is asking whether the situation is unchanged:

• Er der stadig et ledigt bord ...?
• Is there still an available table ...?

It suggests that a table may have been available earlier, and the speaker wants to know whether that is still true now.

Because bord is a neuter noun in Danish, so it takes et, not en.

• et bord = a table

In Danish, adjectives must agree with the noun. Since bord is:

• singular
• indefinite
• neuter

the adjective gets -t:

• ledig → ledigt

So:

• et ledigt bord = an available table

Compare:

• en ledig stol = an available chair
• et ledigt bord = an available table

Ledig means free, vacant, or available, depending on context.

In this sentence, et ledigt bord means:

• an available table
• a free table
• an unoccupied table

So it is the natural word to use when asking whether a café or restaurant has space for you.

In Danish, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix.

So:

• en café = a café
• caféen = the café

This is one of the big differences from English. Instead of saying the café with a separate word, Danish usually attaches the definiteness directly to the noun.

Because Danish often uses på with places like cafés, restaurants, schools, workplaces, and similar locations when talking about being at that place in a general sense.

So:

• på caféen = at the café

This is more idiomatic than i caféen in this context.

Very roughly:

• på caféen = at the café, as a venue/business
• i caféen = inside the café, focusing more on physical interior location

In this sentence, på caféen is the natural choice.

I aften is the normal Danish expression for tonight / this evening.

It is a fixed time expression:

• i aften = tonight
• i morgen = tomorrow
• i dag = today

Even though i often means in, here you should think of i aften as a set phrase rather than translating it word-for-word.

The structure is:

• Er = verb
• der = existential there
• stadig = adverb
• et ledigt bord = noun phrase
• på caféen = place
• i aften = time

So the sentence is:

Er der stadig et ledigt bord på caféen i aften?

This follows normal Danish yes/no question word order, where the verb comes first.

A statement would be:

• Der er stadig et ledigt bord på caféen i aften.
• There is still an available table at the café tonight.

The question is formed by inverting der er → er der.

Sometimes adverbs can move, but Er der stadig et ledigt bord ...? is the most natural and standard order here.

Putting stadig after the noun phrase would sound less natural:

• more natural: Er der stadig et ledigt bord ...?
• less natural here: Er der et ledigt bord stadig ...?

So for learners, the safest pattern is:

Er der + adverb + noun phrase ...?

It is singular.

• et bord = a table
• borde = tables

So the sentence is asking about one available table, not several.

If you wanted plural, it would look different, for example:

• Er der stadig ledige borde på caféen i aften?
• Are there still available tables at the café tonight?

Notice that:

• bord → borde
• ledigt → ledige

Danish does not use do-support the way English does.

In English, we often say:

• Do you have a table?
• Is there a table?

In Danish, yes/no questions are usually formed simply by putting the verb first:

• Har I et bord? = Do you have a table?
• Er der et bord? = Is there a table?

So Danish does not need an extra helping verb like do in this kind of sentence.

Yes. A very common alternative, especially when speaking directly to the café staff, is:

• Har I stadig et ledigt bord i aften?
• Do you still have an available table tonight?

That version focuses more directly on you (plural/polite) as the café staff.

The original sentence:

• Er der stadig et ledigt bord på caféen i aften?

focuses on whether such a table exists at the café.

Both are natural, but Har I ...? is often especially common in real-life service situations.

In natural speech, it would sound something like:

Er der stadig et ledigt bord på caféen i aften?

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• er der is often said quite smoothly together
• stadig is commonly pronounced roughly like STEA-dai or STEA-thi, depending on accent and speech style
• ledigt often sounds more like LEI-thit than a careful spelling-based pronunciation
• caféen has stress on the second syllable of café

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately, but it helps to know that spoken Danish is often more reduced than the spelling suggests.

It is neutral and perfectly polite.

It works well in everyday situations, for example:

• on the phone
• when arriving at a café
• when asking staff in person

It is not overly formal, but it is completely appropriate and natural. If you want to sound a little more directly conversational to the staff, Har I stadig et ledigt bord i aften? may sound even more typical in speech.