Barnet får ros, når det rydder op efter sig selv, og det lærer også af kritik.

Barnet means the child, while et barn means a child.

Danish usually makes nouns definite by adding the article to the end:

• barn = child
• et barn = a child
• barnet = the child

So this sentence is talking about the child, not just a child.

Yes, det literally means it, and it is used here because barn is a neuter noun in Danish.

So grammatically:

• barnet is neuter
• the matching pronoun is det

That means both instances of det refer back to barnet.

In real-life Danish, if the child’s gender is known and important, people may also use han or hun, but det is completely normal when referring back to barnet as a noun.

Får ros literally means gets praise or receives praise.

• får = gets / receives
• ros = praise

Danish often uses få in places where English might use a passive idea. So instead of saying is praised, Danish often says gets praise.

Because ros and kritik are being used as general abstract nouns here.

That is similar to English:

• get praise
• learn from criticism

not necessarily:

• get the praise
• learn from the criticism

So:

• ros = praise in general
• kritik = criticism in general

If you meant specific praise or specific criticism, Danish could use a definite form or add more detail.

Når is used for something that happens when/whenever a situation occurs, especially if it is seen as a regular or expected pattern.

Here the meaning is:

• The child gets praise when it tidies up after itself

That sounds like a repeated or general rule.

By contrast:

• når = when / whenever
• hvis = if

So hvis would sound more purely conditional, while når fits the idea of a normal recurring situation.

It is a multi-word verb: at rydde op, meaning to tidy up or to clean up.

In Danish, some verbs are made of a main verb plus a small word like op, ud, af, etc.

Here:

• rydder = tidies / clears
• op = up

Together, rydder op means tidies up.

Examples:

• at rydde op = to tidy up
• jeg rydder op = I am tidying up
• jeg ryddede op = I tidied up

Efter sig selv means after oneself.

So:

• rydder op efter sig selv = tidies up after itself / oneself

This is a very common expression. It does not just mean tidy up in a general sense; it specifically means cleaning up the mess that one has made oneself.

Because Danish uses sig as the reflexive pronoun for the third person when the action goes back to the subject.

Here, the subject is det and the child is cleaning up after the same child, so Danish uses the reflexive form:

• sig = himself/herself/itself/themselves in reflexive use

Selv adds emphasis, similar to self in English.

So:

• sig selv = himself / herself / itself / oneself, depending on context

In this sentence, sig selv shows that the child is cleaning up after itself, not after someone else.

Because Danish main clauses normally follow the verb-second rule.

In the clause:

• det lærer også af kritik

the finite verb lærer comes early, and the adverb også usually comes after it.

So the order is natural Danish word order:

• det = subject
• lærer = finite verb
• også = also
• af kritik = from criticism

English and Danish do not always place also in exactly the same spot, so this is a common thing learners notice.

Lærer af kritik means learns from criticism.

The important pattern is:

• at lære af noget = to learn from something

So af is the normal preposition with lære in this sense.

Examples:

• lære af fejl = learn from mistakes
• lære af erfaring = learn from experience
• lære af kritik = learn from criticism

Here kritik does not have to mean something harsh; it can also mean corrective feedback.

Yes. Both det pronouns refer to barnet.

The structure is:

• Barnet får ros
• når det rydder op efter sig selv
• og det lærer også af kritik

In English, learners sometimes expect the second clause to work without repeating the subject, but Danish needs the subject stated again:

• og det lærer også ...

So the sentence keeps pointing back to the same child throughout.