Barnet bruger lim til at sætte stjerner på sin tegning.

Barnet means the child, while barn means a child or just child in a general sense.

Danish often makes nouns definite by adding an ending:

• et barn = a child
• barnet = the child

This is very common in Danish. Instead of usually having a separate word like English the, Danish often attaches the definite article to the end of the noun.

Because barn is a neuter noun, its definite ending is -et.

Bruger is the present tense of bruge, meaning to use.

So:

• at bruge = to use
• bruger = use / uses

In Danish, the present tense usually ends in -r, and it does not change depending on the subject.

For example:

• jeg bruger = I use
• du bruger = you use
• barnet bruger = the child uses

That is simpler than English, where only he/she/it uses gets a special ending.

Here til at means something like for doing or to in the sense of purpose.

So:

• bruger lim til at sætte stjerner på sin tegning = uses glue to put/stick stars on his/her drawing

A very common Danish pattern is:

• bruge noget til at + infinitive = use something to + verb

Examples:

• Jeg bruger en kniv til at skære brød. = I use a knife to cut bread.
• Hun bruger en blyant til at tegne. = She uses a pencil to draw.

So til at sætte explains what the glue is being used for.

Because at is the Danish infinitive marker, like English to before a verb.

• sætte = the infinitive form
• at sætte = to put / to place / to stick

After til, Danish normally uses at + infinitive in this kind of structure:

• til at sætte
• til at skrive
• til at åbne

So til at sætte is completely normal grammar.

In this sentence, sætte means something like:

• put
• place
• attach
• stick on

Because the sentence mentions glue, the meaning is not just physically placing the stars somewhere. It suggests attaching them to the drawing.

So in context, sætte stjerner på sin tegning is closer to:

• put stars on the drawing
• stick stars onto the drawing

Danish sætte is a very common verb with a broad range of meanings depending on context.

Stjerner is the plural indefinite form, meaning stars.

Forms of stjerne are:

• en stjerne = a star
• stjernen = the star
• stjerner = stars
• stjernerne = the stars

In this sentence, the stars are being mentioned as some stars, not specifically the stars, so Danish uses the indefinite plural stjerner.

English also often does this:

• The child puts stars on the drawing not necessarily
• The child puts the stars on the drawing

This is a very important Danish point.

Sin is a reflexive possessive, used when the possessor is the subject of the clause.

Here, the subject is barnet (the child), and the drawing belongs to that same child. So Danish uses sin:

• Barnet ... på sin tegning = The child ... on his/her own drawing

If you said hans tegning or hendes tegning, that would usually mean the drawing belongs to some other male or female person, not the subject itself.

So:

• sin tegning = the child’s own drawing
• hans/hendes tegning = someone else’s drawing

Because sin/sit/sine agrees with the noun being owned, not with the owner.

Here, the possessed noun is tegning, and tegning is a common-gender noun, so Danish uses sin.

Compare:

• sin tegning = his/her own drawing
  (tegning is common gender)
• sit hus = his/her own house
  (hus is neuter)
• sine stjerner = his/her own stars
  (plural)

So the form depends on what follows:

• sin
  • common gender singular noun
• sit
  • neuter singular noun
• sine
  • plural noun

Tegning means drawing.

It comes from the verb tegne, which means to draw.

So:

• at tegne = to draw
• en tegning = a drawing
• tegningen = the drawing

In the sentence, sin tegning means his/her own drawing.

På usually means on.

In sætte stjerner på sin tegning, the idea is that the stars are being placed or stuck onto the surface of the drawing. That is why på is the natural choice.

So:

• på tegningen = on the drawing

If a different preposition were used, the meaning would change.

Here lim is being used like an uncountable material noun, similar to English glue.

So bruger lim means uses glue.

Danish often leaves out an article with materials or substances when speaking generally:

• bruger lim = uses glue
• drikker vand = drinks water
• spiser brød = eats bread

You could sometimes use an article in another context, but here the plain noun sounds natural.

The basic structure is:

• Barnet = subject
• bruger = finite verb
• lim = object
• til at sætte stjerner på sin tegning = purpose phrase

So the sentence is:

• Barnet bruger lim til at sætte stjerner på sin tegning.

This is normal Danish main-clause word order: the finite verb comes early, usually in second position.

Because the subject comes first here, it looks fairly similar to English.

Then you would use et barn instead of barnet:

• Et barn bruger lim til at sætte stjerner på sin tegning.

That means A child uses glue to put/stick stars on his/her drawing.

So the difference is:

• barnet = the child
• et barn = a child

Yes. Danish sin does not itself tell you whether the child is male or female.

So sin tegning can mean:

• his own drawing
• her own drawing

The important thing is not gender, but the reflexive relationship: the drawing belongs to the subject of the clause.

A rough pronunciation guide might be:

• Barnet ≈ BAR-ned
• bruger ≈ BROO-er
• lim ≈ leem
• til at ≈ til a
• sætte ≈ SEH-de
• stjerner ≈ STYAIR-ner
• på ≈ paw/poh
• sin ≈ seen
• tegning ≈ TINE-ning or TINE-ing roughly

A few useful points:

• Danish d is often softer than English d
• r is often not pronounced like a strong English r
• unstressed at is often pronounced more like a
• Danish pronunciation is often less phonetic than spelling suggests

So it is a good idea to listen to native audio if possible, especially for words like bruger, sætte, and tegning.

Sometimes, but sætte is better here.

Putte often means put in a more general sense, like putting something into or somewhere. But with glue and attaching shapes to a drawing, sætte sounds more natural because it suggests placing or sticking something onto a surface.

So:

• sætte stjerner på en tegning = natural for attaching stars to it
• putte would usually feel less precise here

Yes, it is natural and clear.

It sounds like a normal sentence you might see in a beginner textbook or hear in a description of a child doing arts and crafts.

A native speaker might also choose slightly different wording depending on context, but the given sentence is perfectly good Danish.