Jeg ville helst være hjemme i kveld.

Ville is the past form of vil, but in Norwegian it is also often used the way English uses would.

So in this sentence, ville does not necessarily mean past time. It can make the statement sound:

• less direct
• more tentative
• more polite
• more hypothetical

Compare:

• Jeg vil helst være hjemme i kveld. = I want / would prefer to be home tonight. More direct.
• Jeg ville helst være hjemme i kveld. = I would rather be home tonight. Softer, a bit less blunt.

So a learner should not always read ville as simple past wanted.

In this sentence, it is closer to would.

A literal word-for-word match is not perfect, but the idea is:

• Jeg ville helst ... ≈ I would preferably / I’d rather ...

If you wanted a clearer meaning of wanted, Norwegian would often use ville in a different context or use another construction depending on what you mean.

Here, the sentence expresses a preference, not a completed past desire.

Helst means preferably, rather, or most willingly, depending on context.

In this sentence, helst shows preference:

• Jeg ville være hjemme i kveld. = I would be home tonight / I would want to be home tonight.
• Jeg ville helst være hjemme i kveld. = I would rather be home tonight.

So helst adds the idea of preference over other options.

Because helst is an adverb, and in this kind of sentence it normally comes after the finite verb and before the infinitive.

Structure:

• Jeg = subject
• ville = finite verb
• helst = adverb
• være = infinitive
• hjemme = place
• i kveld = time

So:

Jeg ville helst være hjemme i kveld.

This is a very normal Norwegian word order.

Because ville is a modal verb, and modal verbs in Norwegian are followed by the infinitive without å.

So you say:

• Jeg vil være hjemme.
• Jeg ville være hjemme.
• Jeg kan være hjemme.
• Jeg skal være hjemme.

Not:

• Jeg ville å være hjemme. ❌

This is similar to English:

• I can go, not I can to go
• I will stay, not I will to stay

This is a very common question.

• hjemme = at home or home in the sense of being in that place
• hjem = home in the sense of direction, motion toward home

So:

• Jeg er hjemme. = I am at home.
• Jeg drar hjem. = I am going home.

In your sentence, the person wants to be located at home, so hjemme is correct:

• være hjemme = be at home

Not:

• være hjem ❌

I kveld means tonight or this evening, depending on context.

Literally:

• i = in
• kveld = evening

But as a time expression, it is usually translated naturally as tonight.

Examples:

• Vi sees i kveld. = See you tonight.
• Jeg jobber i kveld. = I’m working tonight.

So in your sentence, i kveld tells you when the preference applies.

Not necessarily.

Even though ville is formally the past tense of vil, Norwegian often uses it to express:

• politeness
• uncertainty
• a hypothetical idea
• a softer preference

So Jeg ville helst være hjemme i kveld is usually understood as a present/future-oriented preference about tonight, not as something that happened in the past.

The time expression i kveld also helps show that the sentence is about the evening that is coming or relevant now.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are possible, but they feel a little different:

• Jeg vil helst være hjemme i kveld. = more direct, straightforward
• Jeg ville helst være hjemme i kveld. = softer, more tentative, more like I’d rather be home tonight

So the choice depends on tone.

If you are simply stating your preference, vil is very natural. If you want to sound less direct or more conditional, ville works well.

The sentence follows standard Norwegian main-clause word order:

Jeg | ville | helst | være | hjemme | i kveld

That is:

• subject
• finite verb
• adverb
• infinitive
• place
• time

A useful pattern to remember is:

Subject + finite verb + adverb + infinitive + place + time

Norwegian word order is often quite strict, especially with the position of the finite verb.

Yes, it can.

For example, you can say:

• Jeg ville helst være hjemme i kveld.
• I kveld ville jeg helst være hjemme.

Both are natural.

When you move i kveld to the front, Norwegian uses the normal V2 rule, which means the finite verb still has to stay in second position:

• I kveld
  • ville
    • jeg
      • ...

So you get:

• I kveld ville jeg helst være hjemme.

Not:

• I kveld jeg ville helst være hjemme. ❌

A rough pronunciation guide for English speakers could be:

Yai VILL-eh helst VAIR-eh YEM-meh ee kvel

A few important points:

• Jeg is often pronounced something like yai or yai/yei, depending on dialect.
• ville has a short i sound.
• helst often has a clear lst cluster.
• være can be tricky; the æ sound is somewhat like the a in bad, but not exactly.
• hjemme begins with a y-like sound, not an English h sound followed by j separately.
• kveld has a consonant cluster at the start that may feel difficult at first.

Pronunciation varies by dialect, so exact sound can differ, but this approximation is a useful starting point.