Børnene hjælper med at folde sengetøjet, selv om de helst vil lege.

Because børnene means the children, while børn just means children.

This is a very common Danish pattern: definiteness is usually added as an ending, not with a separate word like the.

For this noun, the forms are:

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

It is also an irregular noun:

• singular: barn
• plural: børn

So børnene is not built from barn in a simple regular way.

This is a very natural Danish structure.

• hjælper = help
• med at + infinitive = with doing something

So hjælper med at folde literally looks a bit like help with to fold, but idiomatically it means help to fold or help with folding.

In other words:

• De hjælper med at lave mad = They help cook / They help with cooking
• Han hjælper med at rydde op = He helps tidy up

English and Danish structure this a little differently, but the Danish pattern is very common.

Sengetøj means bed linen, bedding, or bedsheets, depending on context.

The ending -et makes it definite, so:

• sengetøj = bed linen / bedding
• sengetøjet = the bed linen / the bedding

A useful thing to know is that sengetøj is often treated as a collective or mass noun, much like bedding in English. So even if English might say the sheets or the bedclothes, Danish can naturally use singular definite sengetøjet.

Selv om means although, even though, or though.

It introduces a contrast:

• Børnene hjælper med at folde sengetøjet = The children help fold the bedding
• selv om de helst vil lege = even though they would rather play

So the sentence sets up this idea:

• they are helping
• despite the fact that they would prefer to play

You may also come across selvom written as one word.

Because selv om de helst vil lege is a subordinate clause.

The comma marks the boundary between:

• the main clause: Børnene hjælper med at folde sengetøjet
• the subordinate clause: selv om de helst vil lege

In Danish, commas are often used before subordinate clauses. Depending on the comma system being used, this comma can sometimes be omitted in modern Danish, but with the comma, the sentence is completely normal.

This is about Danish subordinate clause word order.

In a main clause, Danish normally has verb-second word order:

• De vil helst lege = They would rather play

But after a subordinating conjunction like selv om, the word order changes. In subordinate clauses, adverbs often come before the finite verb:

• selv om de helst vil lege

So this is a very useful contrast:

• main clause: De vil helst lege
• subordinate clause: ... selv om de helst vil lege

That difference is one of the key word-order patterns learners need to get used to in Danish.

Helst means preferably, rather, or most of all, depending on context.

In this sentence, helst shows preference:

• de helst vil lege = they would rather play

So helst adds the idea that playing is what they prefer most.

A few examples:

• Jeg vil helst blive hjemme = I would rather stay home
• Hun drikker helst te = She prefers tea
• De leger helst udenfor = They prefer playing outside

Not really. Here vil is about wanting or preference, not simple future.

Danish vil can sometimes correspond to English will, but in many contexts it means:

• want to
• would like to

And with helst, it often comes very close to would rather.

So:

• de vil lege = they want to play
• de helst vil lege = they would rather play

That is the most natural way to understand it here.

Because the two verbs are in different structures.

1. After vil

Modal verbs like vil, kan, skal, må take a bare infinitive, with no at.

So you say:

• vil lege
• kan komme
• skal arbejde

Not:

• vil at lege

2. After med at

The phrase med at is a separate construction, and it does require at before the infinitive.

So:

• hjælper med at folde
• god til at synge
• begynder at læse

So the sentence has both patterns:

• med at folde
• vil lege

Because lege is the normal verb for children playing or playing freely for fun.

That makes it the natural choice here, since the sentence is about children who would rather go play.

Very roughly:

• lege = play, especially as children do
• spille = play a game, play music, act, or sometimes play a sport

Examples:

• Børnene leger i haven = The children are playing in the garden
• Han spiller fodbold = He plays football
• Hun spiller klaver = She plays the piano

So in this sentence, lege is exactly the right verb.