Hun beder læreren om hjælp med opgaven.

Beder is the present tense form of the verb at bede.

• at bede = to ask / to request / to pray
• beder = asks / is asking

So:

• Hun beder læreren ... = She asks the teacher ...

If you used bede, that would be the infinitive, like to ask, not the finite verb needed in this sentence.

A few useful forms:

• at bede = to ask
• beder = asks
• bad = asked
• har bedt = has asked

Because læreren is the definite singular form of lærer.

• en lærer = a teacher
• læreren = the teacher

In Danish, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So here:

• Hun beder læreren ... = She asks the teacher ...

That means it is a specific teacher, not just any teacher.

For the same reason as læreren: opgaven is the definite singular form.

• en opgave = an assignment / a task
• opgaven = the assignment / the task

So med opgaven means with the assignment.

Danish often uses the definite form where English might sometimes be a little looser depending on context, but here opgaven is very natural.

Because bede nogen om noget is a standard Danish pattern.

It means:

• bede nogen om noget = ask someone for something

So:

• Hun beder læreren om hjælp = She asks the teacher for help

This is something you usually just have to learn as a verb pattern.

Compare:

• bede læreren om hjælp = ask the teacher for help
• bede læreren om tid = ask the teacher for time
• bede læreren om en forklaring = ask the teacher for an explanation

Because hjælp is usually an uncountable noun in this kind of sentence.

So Danish says:

• om hjælp = for help

not normally:

• om en hjælp

This is similar to English, where we usually say ask for help, not ask for a help.

You can sometimes see en hjælp, but then it often means something more like:

• an aid
• a helper
• something helpful

In this sentence, hjælp is just the general idea of help, so no article is used.

Med opgaven means with the assignment or on the assignment.

It tells you what kind of help she wants.

So the structure is:

• bede nogen om hjælp = ask someone for help
• hjælp med noget = help with something

Put together:

• Hun beder læreren om hjælp med opgaven.
• She asks the teacher for help with the assignment.

So med opgaven belongs with hjælp:

• help with the assignment

The basic structure is:

• Hun = subject
• beder = verb
• læreren = object
• om hjælp = prepositional phrase
• med opgaven = another prepositional phrase

So the order is:

Subject + verb + object + prepositional phrases

That is very normal in a simple Danish main clause.

Also remember that Danish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb normally comes in the second position in main clauses. For example:

• Hun beder læreren om hjælp med opgaven.
• I dag beder hun læreren om hjælp med opgaven.

In the second sentence, I dag takes the first position, so beder still stays in second position.

Yes, that is also possible, and it sounds natural.

There is a small difference in feel:

• bede om hjælp = ask for help, request help
• spørge om hjælp = ask for help

In many everyday situations, they can be quite close.

But be careful: spørge om can also mean ask about, depending on context.

For example:

• Hun spørger læreren om opgaven. = She asks the teacher about the assignment.
• Hun spørger læreren om hjælp. = She asks the teacher for help.

So bede om hjælp is often a little clearer if you specifically mean requesting help.

Yes, at bede can also mean to pray.

That is why context matters.

Examples:

• Hun beder læreren om hjælp. = She asks the teacher for help.
• Hun beder til Gud. = She prays to God.

So in your sentence, because we have beder læreren om hjælp, it clearly means asks or requests, not prays.

A rough pronunciation for English speakers is something like BAY-thər, but that is only approximate.

A few important points:

• The d in beder is a soft Danish d, not a strong English d
• The final -er is unstressed
• Danish pronunciation is often less phonetic than spelling suggests

So it does not sound like a hard d in English bedder.

If you are practicing pronunciation, it helps to listen carefully to native audio, because the soft d is one of the sounds English speakers often find difficult.

Because hun is the subject form of the pronoun.

• hun = she
• hende = her

In this sentence, she is doing the action:

• Hun beder ... = She asks ...

So Danish uses hun, just like English uses she, not her.

Compare:

• Hun beder læreren om hjælp. = She asks the teacher for help.
• Læreren hjælper hende. = The teacher helps her.