Min niece kan spille en enkel melodi på fløjte, men hun vil hellere synge i kor.

Niece is a singular common-gender noun in Danish, so it takes min for my:

• min niece = my niece

You would use:

• min with common-gender singular nouns
• mit with neuter singular nouns
• mine with plural nouns

So:

• min niece = my niece
• mine niecer = my nieces

niesen is not correct here. If you wanted the niece, it would be nichen? No—actually the definite singular is niecen in modern spelling usage based on niece, though many learners mainly just need min niece first.

Yes, niece is a Danish word, but it is not pronounced like the English word.

It is pronounced approximately like NEE-suh or NEE-seh, with two syllables. The final -e is sounded in Danish, unlike in English niece.

So even though the spelling looks familiar, the pronunciation is different.

After a modal verb like kan (can), Danish normally uses the infinitive without at.

So:

• hun kan spille = she can play
• hun vil synge = she wants to / will sing
• hun skal øve = she must practise

This is similar to English, where we also say:

• she can play, not she can to play

So kan spille is the normal structure.

Not always. Spille is used for several kinds of play, especially:

• playing an instrument
• playing a game
• acting/playing a role

In this sentence:

• spille en enkel melodi på fløjte = play a simple melody on the flute

But Danish uses different verbs for other kinds of play:

• lege = play, in the sense of children playing
• spille = play an instrument / play a game

Examples:

• Barnet leger. = The child is playing.
• Hun spiller klaver. = She plays piano.
• Vi spiller fodbold. = We play football.

So here spille is exactly the right verb because it is about making music.

This is the normal Danish pattern for an indefinite singular noun with an adjective:

• en
  • adjective + noun

So:

• en enkel melodi = a simple melody

Here:

• en = a, one
• enkel = simple
• melodi = melody

Because melodi is a common-gender noun, it takes en.

If the noun were neuter, the adjective form could change:

• et enkelt stykke = a simple piece

So learners often notice that enkel becomes enkelt with a neuter noun.

In Danish, when talking about playing an instrument in a general sense, the noun is often used without an article.

So:

• spille på fløjte = play the flute / play on flute
• spille klaver = play piano
• spille guitar = play guitar

Adding en would sound more like you are talking about a particular flute:

• på en fløjte = on a flute, on one flute

In your sentence, the meaning is general: she has the ability to play flute, not necessarily one specific flute.

hellere means rather, and together with vil it gives the idea of would rather or prefers to.

So:

• hun vil hellere synge = she would rather sing / she prefers to sing

This is a very common pattern in Danish:

• Jeg vil hellere blive hjemme. = I would rather stay home.
• Han vil hellere læse end se tv. = He would rather read than watch TV.

In your sentence, the contrast is:

• she can play a melody on the flute,
• but she would rather sing in a choir.

That is the normal word order in Danish main clauses.

The basic pattern here is:

• subject + finite verb + adverb + infinitive

So:

• hun = subject
• vil = finite verb
• hellere = adverb
• synge = infinitive

This gives:

• hun vil hellere synge

Compare:

• Jeg kan godt lide det. = I like it.
• Hun vil gerne komme. = She would like to come.
• Vi skal aldrig glemme det. = We must never forget it.

So hellere comes after the conjugated verb, not before it.

I kor means in a choir or sometimes in chorus, depending on context. In this sentence, it clearly means sing in a choir.

The phrase is often used without an article as a fixed expression:

• synge i kor = sing in a choir

This is similar to other Danish expressions where a noun appears without an article after a preposition.

If you wanted to talk about a specific choir, you would usually say more:

• synge i et kor = sing in a choir
• synge i koret = sing in the choir

But synge i kor is very natural as a general activity.

Men means but and connects two main clauses.

The two parts are:

1. Min niece kan spille en enkel melodi på fløjte
2. hun vil hellere synge i kor

Each part could stand as its own sentence:

• Min niece kan spille en enkel melodi på fløjte.
• Hun vil hellere synge i kor.

When joined with men, Danish keeps normal main-clause word order after it. That is why you get:

• ..., men hun vil hellere synge i kor.

So men works very much like English but here.

Yes, but the meaning changes a little.

• Min niece spiller fløjte = My niece plays the flute / is a flute player
• Min niece kan spille en enkel melodi på fløjte = My niece can play a simple melody on the flute

The original sentence is more specific and slightly more modest. It suggests she has some ability, but maybe not advanced skill. Saying spiller fløjte sounds broader and can imply that flute is an instrument she plays more generally.

So both are correct, but they are not exactly the same.

Yes, both are auxiliary or modal-type verbs, but they express different ideas:

• kan = ability, can
• vil = wants to / will
• vil hellere = would rather / prefers to

So the sentence contrasts:

• what she is able to do
• what she would prefer to do

That is why the sentence feels natural:

• She can play a simple melody on the flute, but she would rather sing in a choir.

This kind of contrast is very common in both Danish and English.