Barnen vill ha en banan och en apelsin efter skolan.

It is plural definite: barnen = the children.

A very common point of confusion is that barn can be:

• ett barn = a child (singular)
• barn = children (plural, indefinite)
• barnen = the children (plural, definite)

So the plain form barn is used in both singular and plural, depending on context.

Because ett/en gender mainly affects the singular forms, not all plural forms.

For barn:

• ett barn = a child
• barnet = the child
• barn = children
• barnen = the children

So even though barn is an ett noun in the singular, its definite plural is still barnen. That is just the normal plural pattern for this word.

Because Swedish usually says vilja + infinitive.

So:

• vill ha = want to have / want

In natural English, we often just say want, but Swedish commonly uses ha when talking about wanting an object:

• Jag vill ha kaffe. = I want coffee.
• Barnen vill ha en banan... = The children want a banana...

So Barnen vill en banan would be incorrect.

Because vill is followed directly by the infinitive.

In Swedish, verbs like vill, kan, ska, måste, får usually take another verb without att:

• vill ha
• kan läsa
• ska gå
• måste jobba

So vill att ha would be wrong here.

Because both banan and apelsin are common-gender nouns in Swedish, also called en-words.

So you say:

• en banan
• en apelsin

If they were ett-words, they would use ett instead.

Because each noun has its own article here.

En banan och en apelsin means one banana and one orange. Swedish normally repeats the article when you mean one of each specific countable thing.

So this is the most natural form:

• en banan och en apelsin

Usually not in this sentence, if you mean specific countable items.

Without the articles, it sounds less natural here because the sentence is talking about individual fruits. Swedish normally wants the indefinite article with singular count nouns:

• en banan
• en apelsin

If you remove them, it may sound incomplete or non-idiomatic.

Because Swedish often uses the definite form in expressions like this.

Efter skolan means after school or after the school day, and this is the normal idiomatic way to say it.

Similar patterns are common in Swedish:

• efter jobbet = after work
• på morgonen = in the morning
• i bilen = in the car

So even though English says after school without the, Swedish naturally says efter skolan.

The basic order is:

• Barnen = subject
• vill = finite verb
• ha = infinitive
• en banan och en apelsin = object
• efter skolan = time expression

So the pattern is:

subject + finite verb + infinitive + object + adverbial

Also remember that Swedish main clauses follow the V2 rule, which means the finite verb must come in the second position.

So if you move Efter skolan to the front, you get:

Efter skolan vill barnen ha en banan och en apelsin.

Not:

Efter skolan barnen vill ha...

Not always.

In careful speech, och is often pronounced something like ock. But in everyday speech, it is very often reduced, and learners may hear something closer to å.

So both careful and reduced pronunciations are common in real Swedish speech. This is completely normal.

No. In Swedish, apelsin is the fruit.

The color is usually orange.

So:

• en apelsin = an orange (the fruit)
• en orange tröja = an orange sweater