Min søn hjælper med at skrælle hvidløget, selvom han ikke kan lide, at det lugter af hvidløg.

This is a very common Danish pattern:

hjælpe med at + infinitive

It means help with doing something or simply help to do something.

So:

• han hjælper med at skrælle hvidløget = he helps peel the garlic / he helps with peeling the garlic

Why both words?

• med introduces the activity
• at marks the infinitive verb skrælle

You will often see similar combinations such as:

• hjælpe med at lave mad = help cook
• hjælpe med at rydde op = help clean up

You may also sometimes hear hjælpe med noget without a verb:

• han hjælper med maden = he helps with the food

So med at is not unusual here; it is a standard construction.

Because after med at, Danish uses the infinitive form of the verb.

The infinitive is the basic verb form, often corresponding to English to + verb.

• at skrælle = to peel
• at spise = to eat
• at læse = to read

So:

• han hjælper med at skrælle = he helps to peel

By contrast, skræller is a present-tense form:

• han skræller hvidløget = he peels / is peeling the garlic

This is a very useful thing to notice.

• hvidløget = the garlic
• hvidløg = garlic

In the first part, hvidløget refers to a specific piece/bulb/clove amount of garlic being peeled:

• at skrælle hvidløget = to peel the garlic

In the second part, hvidløg is used more generally, as a substance or smell:

• det lugter af hvidløg = it smells of garlic / like garlic

So the difference is mainly:

• hvidløget = definite form, a specific garlic item
• hvidløg = indefinite/general or mass noun use

This kind of difference is very common in Danish.

It is the noun hvidløg plus the definite ending -et.

• et hvidløg = a garlic / a bulb of garlic
• hvidløget = the garlic

Danish often makes the definite form by adding the article to the end of the noun:

• en bog → bogen
• et æble → æblet
• et hvidløg → hvidløget

Because hvidløg is a neuter noun (et-word), the definite ending is -et.

Selvom means although, even though, or though.

It introduces a contrast:

• Min søn hjælper med at skrælle hvidløget
  he helps peel the garlic

but

• selvom han ikke kan lide, at det lugter af hvidløg
  even though he does not like that it smells of garlic

So the idea is: he helps anyway, despite not liking the smell.

Because after selvom, Danish uses subordinate clause word order.

In a main clause, you often get:

• Han kan ikke lide det.

But in a subordinate clause introduced by selvom, at, fordi, når, etc., the sentence adverb usually comes before the finite verb:

• selvom han ikke kan lide ...

So the pattern is:

• main clause: Han kan ikke lide det
• subordinate clause: ... fordi han ikke kan lide det

This is one of the most important Danish word-order rules to learn.

Even though it literally looks like can like, kan lide is a fixed Danish expression meaning to like.

So:

• jeg kan lide kaffe = I like coffee
• hun kan lide musik = she likes music
• han kan ikke lide ... = he does not like ...

You should learn kan lide as a unit, not as the normal meaning of kan plus lide separately.

Because at det lugter af hvidløg is a subordinate clause.

In Danish, commas are commonly used before subordinate clauses, especially in standard written Danish.

Here, the structure is:

• han ikke kan lide = he does not like
• at det lugter af hvidløg = that it smells of garlic

So the comma marks the start of the clause functioning as the object of kan lide.

In other words:

• han kan ikke lide, at ... = he does not like that ...

You may see slightly different comma practices depending on comma style taught or used, but this comma is completely normal.

Because selvom han ikke kan lide, at det lugter af hvidløg is a subordinate clause added to the main clause.

Danish writing normally separates this kind of clause with a comma:

• Min søn hjælper med at skrælle hvidløget, selvom ...

So the comma helps show the boundary between:

• the main statement
• the contrasting although clause

Here det is an anticipatory or general it.

Danish often uses det in expressions about weather, conditions, sounds, smells, and similar situations:

• det regner = it is raining
• det lyder godt = it sounds good
• det lugter af hvidløg = it smells of garlic

So det does not always refer to one specific noun in a strict way. It often works just like English it in similar expressions.

Because the Danish verb lugte often combines with af to mean smell of.

• Det lugter af røg = It smells of smoke
• Det lugter af kaffe = It smells of coffee
• Det lugter af hvidløg = It smells of garlic

So af is the normal preposition in this pattern.

Be careful not to translate word-for-word from English. In Danish, lugte af is the natural expression.

Normally, no. The standard expression is:

• lugte af noget = smell of something

So the natural version is:

• det lugter af hvidløg

Using som here would not sound right in ordinary Danish.

It is an en-word:

• en søn = a son
• sønnen = the son

That is why the possessive form is:

• min søn = my son

Compare:

• min bil for an en-word
• mit hus for an et-word

So Danish uses:

• min with common gender nouns
• mit with neuter nouns
• mine in the plural

Because min søn is already the normal and complete way to say my son.

Danish, like English, does not need any extra word here unless you want emphasis:

• min søn = my son
• min egen søn = my own son

So the shorter form is the neutral everyday choice.

It can do both, depending on context.

• et hvidløg can mean a bulb/head of garlic
• hvidløg can also be used more generally as garlic as an ingredient or smell

In this sentence both uses appear:

• hvidløget = the specific garlic being peeled
• hvidløg = garlic in general as a smell

This is similar to English, where garlic is usually a mass noun, but context can still make it specific.

Yes. A helpful breakdown is:

• Min søn = my son
• hjælper med at skrælle hvidløget = helps peel the garlic
• selvom = although / even though
• han ikke kan lide = he does not like
• at det lugter af hvidløg = that it smells of garlic

So the sentence structure is:

[main clause] + [subordinate clause with selvom]

And inside that subordinate clause, there is another subordinate clause introduced by at.

So it is basically:

• My son helps peel the garlic,
• although he does not like
• that it smells of garlic.

That nested structure is very common in Danish.