Vi delar ut mat för att deltagarna ska få hjälp.

Because dela ut is a very common particle verb in Swedish. It means hand out, distribute, or give out.

• dela by itself usually means divide or share
• dela ut means distribute

So:

• Vi delar mat = we share/divide food
• Vi delar ut mat = we hand out/distribute food

That small word ut changes the meaning a lot.

It is a particle verb, which is similar to English verbs like give out, hand out, or pick up.

In Swedish, these are very common. The verb and the particle belong together in meaning:

• ställa in = cancel
• ta upp = bring up / pick up
• dela ut = hand out

Even though they are written as two words in most sentence forms, they function as one unit in meaning.

Because Swedish particle verbs are normally split in ordinary sentence structure:

• Vi delar ut mat.

That is the normal order.

With a noun object like mat, Swedish commonly keeps the particle right after the verb:

• Vi delar ut mat.

If the object is a pronoun, that can affect placement in some cases, but for learners, the safest thing is to learn dela ut as a unit and remember that in normal sentences it often appears as:

• verb + particle + object

So here, delar ut mat is exactly what you should expect.

För att means in order to, so that, or for ... to depending on context.

In this sentence, it introduces the purpose of the action:

• Vi delar ut mat för att deltagarna ska få hjälp.
• We hand out food so that the participants will get help.

So för att answers the question why?

• Why do we hand out food?
• För att deltagarna ska få hjälp.

Here ska does not simply mean ordinary future will. In this kind of sentence, it helps express intended result, goal, or purpose.

So:

• för att deltagarna ska få hjälp

means something like:

• so that the participants can get help
• so that the participants will receive help
• in order for the participants to get help

This use of ska is very common after för att when the subject of the second clause is different from the subject of the first clause.

Compare:

• Jag studerar för att klara provet.
  I study in order to pass the test.

• Jag förklarar det för att du ska förstå.
  I explain it so that you will understand.

In your sentence, vi are doing one action, and deltagarna are the ones affected in the purpose clause, so ska fits naturally.

It is possible in some contexts, but it would not mean quite the same thing.

• för att deltagarna ska få hjälp = so that the participants will/can receive help
  This focuses on purpose or intention.

• för att deltagarna får hjälp would sound more like a statement about what actually happens, and in many contexts it feels less natural here.

So in this sentence, ska få hjälp is the better and more idiomatic choice.

Because after för att, you have a subordinate clause, and Swedish subordinate clauses do not use the normal main-clause V2 word order.

Main clause:

• Deltagarna ska få hjälp.

Subordinate clause after för att:

• ... för att deltagarna ska få hjälp.

So the pattern is:

• conjunction/subordinator + subject + finite verb + rest

That is why deltagarna comes before ska.

Deltagarna is the definite plural form, meaning the participants.

Swedish often marks definiteness by adding an ending to the noun:

• en deltagare = a participant
• deltagaren = the participant
• deltagare = participants
• deltagarna = the participants

So here, the sentence refers to a specific group of participants already known in the situation.

Because Swedish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun as a suffix.

So instead of saying a separate word like English the participants, Swedish says:

• deltagarna

This -na ending is the plural definite ending here.

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English.

Literally, få means get and hjälp means help.

So få hjälp means:

• get help
• receive help

This is a very common Swedish expression.

Examples:

• Hon fick hjälp av en vän. = She got help from a friend.
• Vi vill att de ska få hjälp. = We want them to get help.

So in your sentence, ska få hjälp means are to receive help / will get help / can get help, depending on how naturally you translate it into English.

Because hjälp here is used as an uncountable noun, like English help.

You normally say:

• få hjälp = get help
• behöva hjälp = need help

Not:

• få en hjälp in this meaning

If you use en hjälp, it usually refers to a help/an aid, which is a different and less common meaning.

So få hjälp is the standard expression.

Yes, and that is a useful comparison.

• Vi delar ut mat för att hjälpa deltagarna.
  We hand out food in order to help the participants.

This version uses an infinitive phrase and focuses directly on our purpose: to help the participants.

Your original sentence:

• Vi delar ut mat för att deltagarna ska få hjälp.

focuses more on the result for the participants: so that the participants receive help.

Both are grammatical, but they are not identical in nuance.

Not really. In modern Swedish, ska is extremely common and covers several meanings:

• future
• intention
• obligation
• expected result

In this sentence, it is not best understood as old-fashioned English shall. It is better to think of it as part of a structure meaning:

• so that ... will ...
• so that ... can ...
• so that ... are to ...

So don’t try to match ska to just one English word every time.

There can be an infinitive after för att, but only when the structure fits.

For example:

• Vi delar ut mat för att hjälpa.
• Vi delar ut mat för att få hjälp.

But in your sentence, the clause has its own subject:

• deltagarna

Once you have a full clause with its own subject, you need a finite verb:

• för att deltagarna ska få hjälp

So this is not just för att + infinitive. It is för att + subordinate clause.

You can break it down like this:

• Vi = subject
• delar ut = verb
• mat = object
• för att deltagarna ska få hjälp = purpose clause

So the sentence pattern is:

• Subject + verb + object + purpose clause

More literally:

• We hand out food so that the participants will get help.

That makes it a very useful model sentence for learning both particle verbs and purpose clauses in Swedish.