Sorteringsmærket sidder på affaldsposen.

Because Danish, like English, often makes compound nouns, but Danish usually writes them as one word.

• sorteringsmærket = sortering
  • mærke
    • definite ending
      
      • sortering = sorting
      • mærke = label / mark / tag
• affaldsposen = affald
  • pose
    • definite ending
      
      • affald = waste / trash
      • pose = bag

So instead of writing something like the sorting label as two words, Danish commonly builds one compound noun.

That -et is the definite singular ending for a neuter noun.

The base noun is:

• et mærke = a label / a mark

Its definite form is:

• mærket = the label / the mark

In the full compound:

• et sorteringsmærke = a sorting label
• sorteringsmærket = the sorting label

So -et here means the.

Because pose is a common-gender noun, not a neuter noun.

• en pose = a bag
• posen = the bag

In the compound:

• en affaldspose = a garbage bag / waste bag
• affaldsposen = the garbage bag / waste bag

So:

• -en = definite singular for many en-words
• -et = definite singular for many et-words

That -s- is a linking sound/letter often used in Danish compounds.

Examples here:

• sortering
  • mærke → sorteringsmærke
• affald
  • pose → affaldspose

It does not always add a separate meaning. Often it just helps the compound sound more natural or follows established word formation patterns.

Unfortunately, there is not always a simple rule you can apply perfectly every time, so this is something learners often pick up through exposure.

Danish often uses position verbs where English would simply use is.

Here, sidder literally means sits, but in Danish it is also used for things that are:

• attached
• fixed in place
• positioned on a surface

So Sorteringsmærket sidder på affaldsposen means the label is stuck/attached/on the bag.

This is very natural Danish. In many contexts, using er would sound less specific or less idiomatic.

Here sidder på means something like:

• is attached to
• is on
• is fixed on

So the idea is not that the label is merely near the bag, but that it is physically on it, probably stuck, printed, or fastened there.

This is a very common pattern in Danish:

• Skiltet sidder på døren = The sign is on the door
• Knapperne sidder på skjorten = The buttons are on the shirt

It follows normal Danish main clause word order:

• Sorteringsmærket = subject
• sidder = verb
• på affaldsposen = prepositional phrase

So it is basically:

• Subject + Verb + Place

This is very similar to basic English word order:

• The sorting label is on the garbage bag

Also, Danish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in main clauses.

Yes, grammatically you could. That would mean:

• A sorting label is on a garbage bag

The original sentence uses the definite form:

• sorteringsmærket = the sorting label
• affaldsposen = the garbage bag

That suggests we are talking about a specific label and a specific bag, or about them in a context where both are already known.

Not exactly, though they can overlap.

• mærke can mean mark, sign, symbol, label, tag, or badge depending on context
• etiket is more specifically label or tag

So sorteringsmærke sounds natural if the thing is a sorting mark/symbol/label.
If it were specifically a printed sticker label, etiket might also be possible in some contexts.

The best choice depends on what the object actually is.

A rough beginner-friendly pronunciation might be:

sor-TEH-rings-mer-ked SID-er po AW-fel-posen

A few helpful notes:

• sorterings- has stress on the -te- / -ring area, not heavily on every syllable
• mærke has a vowel sound that does not exist exactly in English
• sidder sounds a bit like SID-er, but with a softer Danish d
• på sounds roughly like po with a long vowel
• affald is often pronounced more like af-fal than the spelling may suggest

As usual with Danish, the real pronunciation is more reduced and smoother than the spelling suggests.

In this sentence, på is best understood as on or attached to.

But in Danish, på can have several meanings depending on context, such as:

• on
• at
• in
• to

Here, because we are talking about a label and a bag, på clearly refers to physical placement on a surface.

It is a simple declarative sentence in the present tense.

Breakdown:

• Sorteringsmærket = definite singular noun, subject
• sidder = present tense verb
• på affaldsposen = prepositional phrase showing location

So it is a straightforward statement describing where something is.

Yes, it sounds natural.

A Danish speaker would readily understand it as saying that the sorting label is attached to or placed on the garbage bag. It sounds like the kind of sentence you might see in instructions about waste sorting, recycling, or packaging.