Hun liker leverpostei på brød, men barna liker det ikke.

Hun means she.

It is the subject form, so you use it when she is doing the action:

• Hun liker ... = She likes ...

If her is the object, Norwegian usually uses henne instead:

• Jeg ser henne = I see her

So in this sentence, hun is used because she is the one who likes something.

Liker is the present tense of å like.

• å like = to like
• liker = like / likes

So:

• Hun liker ... = She likes ...
• barna liker ... = the children like ...

Norwegian does not need an extra word like English does/do in ordinary present-tense sentences. The tense is shown directly by the verb form liker.

Because leverpostei is being used in a general sense, like a food someone likes in general.

Compare:

• Hun liker leverpostei = She likes liver pâté
• Hun liker ost = She likes cheese
• Hun liker kaffe = She likes coffee

When talking about foods or substances in general, Norwegian often uses no article.

If you said en leverpostei, that would usually suggest one pâté / one container / one item, not the food in general.

Leverpostei is a very common Norwegian food: liver pâté or liver spread.

It is often eaten on bread, especially in sandwiches or open-faced sandwiches.

So this sentence is about a food preference, not about a single specific object.

På brød literally means on bread.

In natural English, you would usually understand it as:

• on bread
• on a slice of bread
• in a sandwich / on sandwiches, depending on context

Again, there is no article because this is a general way of eating it, not one specific loaf or one specific piece.

• på brød = on bread, as a general food combination

If you said på et brød, that would sound more like on one loaf, which is not what is meant here.

Men means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• Hun liker leverpostei på brød
• men barna liker det ikke

So the sentence sets up a contrast:

• She likes it, but the children do not.

Barna means the children.

The noun is:

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

So barn by itself is usually children in a general or indefinite sense, while barna is definite: a specific group of children.

In this sentence, barna means the children we are talking about, not children in general.

This is a very common question.

Here, det is natural because it refers back to the whole idea of leverpostei på brød, or to the thing being liked, not necessarily just to the grammatical gender of the noun leverpostei by itself.

So:

• barna liker det ikke = the children don’t like it

In Norwegian, det is often used when referring back to:

• a whole situation
• an idea
• a previously mentioned statement
• a general thing that was just talked about

If you were talking about one specific leverpostei as an object, den could make sense in some contexts, but in this sentence det is the most natural choice.

Because Norwegian often places a short object pronoun before ikke.

That is why this sounds natural:

• barna liker det ikke

With a full noun object, Norwegian usually puts ikke before the noun:

• barna liker ikke leverpostei

So compare:

• liker ikke leverpostei = does not like liver pâté
• liker det ikke = does not like it

If you say liker ikke det, that is possible, but it usually sounds more contrastive or emphatic, like:

• They don’t like that

So the word order in the original sentence is the normal, natural one.

Because Norwegian does not use do-support the way English does.

English says:

• The children do not like it

Norwegian simply uses:

• barna liker det ikke

So Norwegian negatives are often built like this:

• subject + verb + ikke

or, with a pronoun object:

• subject + verb + object pronoun + ikke

There is no extra verb corresponding to English do here.

Yes, in standard Norwegian it is normal to use a comma before men when it joins two main clauses.

Here the two clauses are:

• Hun liker leverpostei på brød
• men barna liker det ikke

Both could stand as complete sentences on their own, so the comma is appropriate.

Here it means a general preference:

• She likes liver pâté on bread
• the children do not like it

That is the most natural reading.

Norwegian present tense often covers what English expresses with the simple present:

• Hun liker kaffe = She likes coffee
• Jeg bor i Oslo = I live in Oslo

So in this sentence, liker is about what they generally like or do not like, not about a one-time action happening at this exact moment.