Vi spiser kylling til aftensmad, medmindre børnene hellere vil have suppe.

Spiser is the present tense of at spise (to eat).

• at spise = to eat
• jeg spiser = I eat / I am eating
• vi spiser = we eat / we are eating

In Danish, the present tense often ends in -r, so spise becomes spiser.

In this sentence, kylling means chicken as a type of food, not a chicken as an individual animal.

So Danish often leaves out the article, just like English can:

• Vi spiser kylling = We are eating chicken

Compare:

• Vi spiser en kylling would sound more like we are eating one whole chicken
• Kylling on its own means chicken in a general food sense

This is very common with food words in Danish.

Til aftensmad means for dinner or for the evening meal.

Literally:

• til = for / to
• aftensmad = evening food, meaning dinner / supper

In Danish, til is commonly used when saying what someone is having for a meal:

• Vi får suppe til frokost = We’re having soup for lunch
• Vi spiser fisk til aftensmad = We’re eating fish for dinner

So til aftensmad is a very natural fixed expression.

Yes, aftensmad is a very common everyday word for the evening meal.

It is made up of:

• aften = evening
• mad = food

So literally it is evening food.

Depending on region, family, and context, Danes may also use middag in some situations, but aftensmad is a very safe and standard word for dinner/supper in modern everyday Danish.

Medmindre means unless.

It introduces an exception:

• Vi spiser kylling til aftensmad, medmindre børnene hellere vil have suppe.
• We’re eating chicken for dinner, unless the children would rather have soup.

So the main plan is chicken, and the exception is if the children prefer soup.

Medmindre is a conjunction, and it introduces a subordinate clause.

Because medmindre starts a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses in Danish usually keep the subject before the finite verb.

So you get:

• medmindre børnene hellere vil have suppe

Structure:

• børnene = subject
• vil = finite verb
• have = infinitive
• suppe = object

In a main clause, Danish often uses verb-second word order, but after a subordinating word like medmindre, that pattern changes.

Compare:

• Main clause: Børnene vil hellere have suppe
• Subordinate clause: medmindre børnene hellere vil have suppe

Hellere means rather or preferably.

So:

• børnene hellere vil have suppe = the children would rather have soup

It is the comparative form of gerne, which is often used to express liking or willingness.

A useful pair is:

• Jeg vil gerne have kaffe = I would like coffee
• Jeg vil hellere have te = I would rather have tea

So hellere is used when comparing one preference with another.

Literally, yes, vil have is will have, but in everyday Danish it often means want or would like.

So:

• børnene vil have suppe = the children want soup
• børnene hellere vil have suppe = the children would rather have soup

This is very common Danish usage. English speakers sometimes expect a separate verb meaning want, but Danish often uses ville have or vil have in this way.

This is because in subordinate clauses, Danish sentence adverbs often come before the finite verb.

So:

• medmindre børnene hellere vil have suppe

Here, hellere behaves like an adverb connected to preference, and its position is natural before vil in this subordinate clause.

Compare the main clause version:

• Børnene vil hellere have suppe

So the position changes depending on clause type.

Børnene means the children.

The singular noun is irregular:

• et barn = a child
• børn = children
• børnene = the children

So barn changes to børn in the plural. That is why it is not barnene.

This is just an irregular plural that you need to learn.

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

So:

• barn = child
• barnet = the child
• børn = children
• børnene = the children

This is one of the most important features of Danish nouns.

Because medmindre børnene hellere vil have suppe is a subordinate clause.

In standard Danish punctuation, a comma is often used before subordinate clauses, especially in teaching materials and formal writing.

So the comma helps show the structure:

• main clause: Vi spiser kylling til aftensmad
• subordinate clause: medmindre børnene hellere vil have suppe

Yes, in many contexts you could say:

• Vi får kylling til aftensmad

This means We’re having chicken for dinner and is extremely natural in Danish.

The version with spiser focuses more directly on eating, while får often means are having when talking about meals.

Both are correct, but vi får kylling til aftensmad may sound even more idiomatic in everyday conversation.

Yes, suppe is indefinite here, but like kylling, it is being used as a food substance or meal type, so no article is needed.

• have suppe = have soup
• spise kylling = eat chicken

This works much like English:

• We’re having soup
• We’re eating chicken

If you added an article, it would sound more specific:

• en suppe = a soup, perhaps one specific soup or serving

But in meal contexts, the bare noun is usually the natural choice.

Sometimes, yes, but they are not always exactly the same in tone or structure.

• medmindre = unless
• hvis ikke = if not

In many everyday situations they can express a similar idea:

• Vi spiser kylling, medmindre børnene hellere vil have suppe
• Vi spiser kylling, hvis ikke børnene hellere vil have suppe

But medmindre is the more direct equivalent of unless, and it is the best fit here.