Barnet ble født i går.

Because -et is the definite ending for many neuter nouns in Norwegian.

• et barn = a child
• barnet = the child

So barnet already includes the idea of the, which is why there is no separate word for the in front of it.

Literally, barnet means the child. But in this sentence, because it is talking about birth, English would often naturally say the baby.

So the Norwegian word is still barnet, but in context it refers to a newborn child.

Ble is the past tense of bli, which often means become or is used to form a passive-like construction.

Here, ble født means was born.

So:

• bli = become / be
• ble = became / was

In this sentence, ble helps express the event of birth in the past.

Norwegian commonly uses bli + past participle to talk about events in a passive-style way.

So:

• ble født = was born

This is the normal way to describe the birth event itself.

A useful contrast:

• Barnet ble født i går. = the birth happened yesterday.
• Barnet er født i 2024. = the child is born in 2024 / was born in 2024.

In everyday Norwegian, ble født usually focuses on the event, while er født often gives birth information such as time or place.

Født is the past participle connected with føde.

• å føde usually means to give birth
• født means born

In ble født, it works with ble to mean was born.

This is one of those forms that is best learned as a chunk:

• bli født = to be born
• ble født = was born

Yes, effectively it is. Norwegian often uses bli + participle for a passive meaning.

So Barnet ble født i går is structurally similar to a passive expression, even though in practice learners usually just remember ble født as the normal way to say was born.

Usually, no, not if you mean the birth happened yesterday.

The normal choice is:

• Barnet ble født i går.

Using var født would sound wrong or unnatural in that meaning for most learners' purposes.

A helpful rule:

• ble født = the event of being born
• er født = giving birth details such as year, date, or place

For example:

• Hun ble født i går. = She was born yesterday.
• Hun er født i Oslo. = She was born in Oslo.
• Hun er født i 1998. = She was born in 1998.

I går means yesterday.

It is a fixed expression, so you should learn it as a unit:

• i går = yesterday

Even though i often means in, you should not translate this word-for-word. Just treat i går as the standard Norwegian expression for yesterday.

That is a very normal place for a time expression in Norwegian.

The basic order here is:

• Barnet = subject
• ble født = verb phrase
• i går = time expression

So:

• Barnet ble født i går.

But Norwegian is flexible, and you can move i går to the front for emphasis:

• I går ble barnet født.

When you do that, Norwegian still keeps the finite verb in second position, so ble comes right after i går. This is an example of the Norwegian V2 word order rule.

Yes. That is completely correct.

Both are natural:

• Barnet ble født i går.
• I går ble barnet født.

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Barnet ble født i går = neutral statement
• I går ble barnet født = stronger focus on yesterday

There is a separate word: ble.

English uses:

• was born

Norwegian uses:

• ble født

So the meaning is divided across two words in both languages, but the exact words are different:

• was corresponds here to ble
• born corresponds to født

Yes. Ble is the simple past form of bli.

Some useful forms are:

• bli = become / be
• blir = becomes / is becoming
• ble = became / was
• har blitt = has become / has been

In this sentence, only ble is needed because the whole sentence is in the past.

Født can be tricky for English speakers because of both ø and the consonant cluster.

A few tips:

• ø is a rounded vowel that does not exist exactly in English
• the word is pronounced as one syllable
• the final dt is not pronounced as two fully separate English-style sounds

A rough learner-friendly approximation is something like furt/fert with rounded lips, but that is only approximate. The most important thing is to listen to native audio and imitate it.

Går has a long vowel sound, and å is pronounced somewhat like the vowel in British law or more, though exact pronunciation depends on dialect.

So går is roughly like gor with a long vowel, but again, listening to native pronunciation is best.

This sentence is standard Bokmål.

In Nynorsk, you would commonly see:

• Barnet blei fødd i går.

Key differences:

• ble → blei
• født → fødd

So the sentence you were given is the Bokmål form.

Yes, they can. It is correct Norwegian.

But depending on context, speakers might also use other nouns, for example:

• babyen = the baby
• jenta = the girl
• gutten = the boy

Still, Barnet ble født i går is perfectly natural and grammatically correct.

The structure is:

• Barnet = subject
• ble = finite verb
• født = participle
• i går = adverbial of time

So the pattern is roughly:

Subject + verb + participle + time expression

That makes this a very useful model sentence for similar Norwegian sentences.