Jeg vil helst blive hjemme i aften.

Helst means something like preferably, rather, or most of all.

In this sentence, jeg vil helst ... is a very common way to say:

• I’d rather ...
• I would prefer to ...

So Jeg vil helst blive hjemme i aften means that staying home is the speaker’s preferred option for tonight.

A few examples:

• Jeg vil helst spise nu. — I’d rather eat now.
• Hun vil helst tage bussen. — She’d prefer to take the bus.

In Danish, vil is often used in everyday speech where English would use would.

So:

• Jeg vil helst blive hjemme
  can naturally mean
• I’d rather stay home

Even though vil literally corresponds to want / will, the combination vil helst often sounds softer and more like a preference than a strong demand.

Ville can also appear in polite or more hypothetical contexts, but in a simple sentence like this, vil helst is completely natural.

Yes, blive often means become, but it can also mean stay or remain, depending on context.

Here, blive hjemme means:

• stay home
• literally, remain at home

So in this sentence, blive does not mean become.

Compare:

• Han bliver læge. — He becomes a doctor.
• Han bliver hjemme. — He stays home.

Because vil is a modal verb.

After modal verbs in Danish, the next verb is normally in the infinitive without at.

Common modal verbs include:

• kan — can
• skal — must / will
• må — may / must
• vil — want / will
• bør — ought to
• kunne / ville in past or conditional uses

So:

• Jeg vil blive hjemme. — correct
• Jeg vil at blive hjemme. — incorrect

This is similar to English:

• I can go
• not I can to go

In a normal main clause in Danish, the finite verb usually comes early, and sentence adverbs often come after it.

So the structure is:

• Jeg — subject
• vil — finite verb
• helst — adverb
• blive — infinitive
• hjemme — place
• i aften — time

That makes Jeg vil helst blive hjemme i aften the natural word order.

If you moved helst, the sentence would usually sound less natural or change emphasis.

This is a very common question.

• hjemme = at home or home as a location
• hjem = home as a direction, usually with movement

So:

• Jeg er hjemme. — I am at home.
• Jeg bliver hjemme. — I’m staying home.
• Jeg går hjem. — I’m going home.

In your sentence, there is no movement toward home. The speaker is remaining there, so hjemme is correct.

I aften means this evening or tonight.

Danish often uses this kind of time expression without needing a separate future marker. The future idea is already clear from context.

Examples:

• Vi ses i aften. — See you tonight.
• Han arbejder i aften. — He’s working tonight.

So i aften tells you when the preference applies: tonight.

Yes, very natural.

Jeg vil helst blive hjemme i aften sounds like normal, everyday Danish. A native speaker could say this in many situations, for example:

• when declining an invitation
• when feeling tired
• when choosing between going out and staying in

It is neutral and common.

Not necessarily. Even though vil by itself can sound like want, the phrase vil helst usually expresses preference in a fairly natural, not overly forceful way.

So in many contexts:

• Jeg vil helst blive hjemme
  is best understood as
• I’d rather stay home

If you want to sound even more explicitly like I prefer, you can also say:

• Jeg foretrækker at blive hjemme i aften.

But that is slightly more formal or deliberate. Jeg vil helst ... is often more conversational.

A learner might especially notice these:

• jeg — often pronounced roughly like yai or yaiy, depending on the speaker
• helst — the l is not always very clear; it can sound roughly like helst with a quick, light vowel
• blive — roughly blee-vuh or blee-wuh, depending on accent and speed
• hjemme — roughly yem-uh
• aften — roughly af-dn or af-ten, with the second syllable reduced in natural speech

Exact pronunciation varies by region and speaking speed, but the biggest thing to know is that spoken Danish is often less clearly pronounced than the spelling suggests.

Yes, you could, but it is slightly different.

• blive hjemme = stay home
• være hjemme = be at home

In many situations, both work, but blive hjemme emphasizes the choice not to go out, while være hjemme focuses more on the state of being at home.

So:

• Jeg vil helst blive hjemme i aften = I’d rather stay home tonight.
• Jeg vil helst være hjemme i aften = I’d rather be at home tonight.

The first one is especially natural if the alternative is going somewhere.

Yes.

Helst can appear in several kinds of sentences to show preference.

Examples:

• Jeg spiser helst tidligt. — I prefer to eat early.
• Hun tager helst toget. — She prefers to take the train.
• Hvad vil du helst? — What would you prefer?

So helst is a very useful word for talking about what someone prefers.