Apelsinerna blev kvar hemma, men juicen följde med till parken.

Apelsinerna means the oranges.

It is made from:

• apelsin = orange
• apelsiner = oranges
• apelsinerna = the oranges

Swedish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun, instead of using a separate word like the in English.

So:

• en apelsin = an orange
• apelsinen = the orange
• apelsiner = oranges
• apelsinerna = the oranges

Blev kvar literally means something like became left/stayed behind. In natural English, it usually comes out as were left behind or stayed behind.

The difference is:

• var kvar = were/stayed/remained there; it describes a state
• blev kvar = ended up staying behind / were left behind; it suggests a result or change

So Apelsinerna blev kvar hemma has the sense that the oranges did not come along and ended up remaining at home.

This is very common in Swedish:

• bli kvar = stay behind / remain

Kvar means left, remaining, or still there.

In this sentence, it shows that the oranges remained at home instead of going to the park.

Some common examples:

• Jag har kaffe kvar. = I have coffee left.
• Hon stannade kvar. = She stayed behind.
• Är det något kvar? = Is there anything left?

So blev kvar hemma means stayed behind at home or were left at home.

This is a very common learner question.

• hem usually means homeward / to home: direction
• hemma means at home: location

Here the oranges are not moving anywhere; they are located at home. So Swedish uses hemma.

Compare:

• Jag går hem. = I’m going home.
• Jag är hemma. = I’m at home.

So:

• blev kvar hemma = stayed behind at home

Juicen means the juice.

The base word is juice, and the ending -n / -en makes it definite:

• juice = juice
• juicen = the juice

This is the same basic idea as with apelsinerna: Swedish often adds definiteness as an ending rather than using a separate word like the.

Because juice is a loanword, its spelling may look more English-like, but it still follows Swedish grammar here.

Följde med is the past tense of följa med, which means:

• come along
• go along
• come with
• sometimes be taken along

Literally, följa means follow, but följa med is a fixed expression with a broader meaning.

So in this sentence, juicen följde med till parken means that the juice came along to the park or was taken to the park.

That is true in literal English, but Swedish often uses följa med for objects that are taken along with people.

So juicen följde med till parken is a natural way to say that the juice went along or was brought along to the park.

English sometimes does something similar:

• The umbrella came with us.
• The snacks came along too.

So the Swedish is not saying the juice walked by itself; it is just a natural way to describe that it was included in what was brought.

Here, med is part of the expression följa med.

There is an important difference:

• följa = follow
• följa med = come along / go along / accompany / be taken along

Examples:

• Hunden följde mannen. = The dog followed the man.
• Hunden följde med mannen. = The dog went along with the man.

So in your sentence, med is necessary because the meaning is not simply followed, but came along.

This is normal Swedish main-clause word order.

In a main clause, Swedish usually puts the finite verb in the second position. This is often called the V2 rule.

Here the second clause starts with men = but:

• men = but
• juicen = subject
• följde = finite verb
• med = particle
• till parken = to the park

So:

• men juicen följde med till parken

Because men is a coordinating conjunction, it does not force inversion by itself. The clause after it keeps normal main-clause order: subject + verb.

Till usually means to when there is movement toward a destination.

So:

• till parken = to the park

This fits because the juice is being described as coming along to the park.

Also, parken means the park:

• park = park
• parken = the park

Compare:

• Vi gick till parken. = We walked to the park.
• Vi var i parken. = We were in the park.

So till focuses on the destination, not the location once there.

Both are in the past tense.

• blev = past tense of bli = become / get
• följde = past tense of följa = follow

In this sentence:

• blev kvar = stayed behind / were left behind
• följde med = came along / went along

So the whole sentence is describing what happened in the past.

Yes. Men means but, and it sets up a contrast between the two parts of the sentence:

• Apelsinerna blev kvar hemma = the oranges stayed at home
• men juicen följde med till parken = but the juice came along to the park

The sentence contrasts two related things:

• the whole oranges did not go
• the juice did go

This kind of contrast is very natural in Swedish and English.

Yes. Swedish often allows several natural ways to express the same basic idea.

For example, instead of juicen följde med till parken, you might also see something like:

• ...men juicen togs med till parken. = ...but the juice was taken to the park.
• ...men juicen kom med till parken. = ...but the juice came along to the park.

And instead of blev kvar hemma, you might see:

• ...var kvar hemma = ...was left/remained at home
• ...stannade hemma = ...stayed at home

But the original sentence is idiomatic and natural. It sounds like normal Swedish narrative style.