Barna finner bilbeltet i baksetet og hjelper hverandre.

Barna means the children. The noun barn is a neuter noun, and its definite plural form is very commonly barna in Norwegian.

A quick overview:

• et barn = a child
• barn = children
• barna = the children

For an English speaker, the important thing is that Norwegian usually puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

In Norwegian, definiteness is usually built into the noun with an ending.

So:

• barna = the children
• bilbeltet = the seat belt
• baksetet = the back seat

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Instead of saying the child, Norwegian often says barnet, where the ending shows the.

Bilbeltet is a compound noun:

• bil = car
• belte = belt
• bilbelte = seat belt / car seat belt
• bilbeltet = the seat belt

Norwegian forms compound nouns very freely, much more like German than English. So instead of using a separate phrase, Norwegian often joins words together into one noun.

Yes, but Norwegian often uses the singular when talking about a seat belt in a general or context-specific way.

Here, bilbeltet means the seat belt. The sentence is talking about one specific seat belt that the children find.

If you wanted plural, you would use:

• bilbelter = seat belts
• bilbeltene = the seat belts

So the singular here is just because the sentence is referring to one seat belt.

Because baksetet means the back seat, while baksete means back seat in an indefinite sense.

Compare:

• i baksete = in a back seat / in back seat (not the normal choice here)
• i baksetet = in the back seat

Since we are talking about a specific seat in the car, the definite form is natural.

In this sentence, the most natural reading is that it describes where the seat belt is found:

The children find the seat belt in the back seat and help each other.

So i baksetet is most naturally connected to finner bilbeltet.

That said, in real life, context can sometimes make phrases like this slightly ambiguous. But without extra context, most learners should understand it as they find the seat belt in the back seat.

Because the subject barna applies to both verbs.

So the structure is:

• Barna finner bilbeltet
• (Barna) hjelper hverandre

In Norwegian, just like in English, you do not need to repeat the subject when two actions are linked by og (and), as long as the subject stays the same.

So it works like:

The children find the seat belt and help each other.

Hverandre means each other.

So:

• De hjelper hverandre = They help each other

It is a reciprocal expression, used when people do something to one another.

Some common examples:

• De kjenner hverandre = They know each other
• Vi ser hverandre = We see each other
• Barna hjelper hverandre = The children help each other

For English speakers, it is easiest to learn hverandre as a fixed word meaning each other.

Because hverandre is specifically used for reciprocal meaning: each other.

• seg means himself/herself/themselves depending on context
• hverandre means each other

So:

• De hjelper seg selv = They help themselves
• De hjelper hverandre = They help each other

Those are different meanings, so hverandre is the correct choice here.

Yes. Both are present tense forms:

• å finne = to find
• finner = find / finds / are finding
• å hjelpe = to help
• hjelper = help / helps / are helping

Norwegian verbs do not change according to person the way English verbs sometimes do.

So:

• jeg finner
• du finner
• han finner
• vi finner
• de finner

The verb form stays the same.

Because hjelper is a finite verb, not an infinitive.

Compare:

• å hjelpe = to help
• hjelper = help / helps

In this sentence, the children are actually performing the action, so Norwegian uses the present tense hjelper, not the infinitive å hjelpe.

The structure is:

Subject + verb + object + place + and + verb + object

More specifically:

• Barna = subject
• finner = verb
• bilbeltet = object
• i baksetet = place phrase
• og = and
• hjelper = second verb
• hverandre = object of that second verb

So the sentence follows a very normal Norwegian main-clause word order.