Vi reiser gjennom ørkenen.

Because vi is the subject form, meaning we.

In Vi reiser gjennom ørkenen, we are the ones doing the action, so Norwegian uses vi.

Oss means us and is used as an object, for example:

• Han ser oss = He sees us
• De snakker med oss = They are talking with us

Reiser is the present tense of å reise.

• å reise = to travel
• reiser = travel / am traveling / are traveling / will travel depending on context

A useful point: Norwegian verbs do not change for person the way English verbs sometimes do. So you get:

• jeg reiser = I travel
• du reiser = you travel
• vi reiser = we travel

The verb form stays the same.

Yes. Norwegian very often uses the present tense for the future when the context makes it clear.

So Vi reiser gjennom ørkenen can mean:

• We travel through the desert
• We are traveling through the desert
• We will travel through the desert

If you want to make the future more explicit, you can say:

• Vi skal reise gjennom ørkenen = We are going to travel through the desert

Gjennom is a preposition meaning through.

It shows the path of movement:

• gjennom skogen = through the forest
• gjennom byen = through the city
• gjennom ørkenen = through the desert

So in this sentence, it tells you where the travel goes.

Because ørkenen is the definite singular form: the desert.

The noun is:

• en ørken = a desert
• ørkenen = the desert

So:

• Vi reiser gjennom en ørken = We are traveling through a desert
• Vi reiser gjennom ørkenen = We are traveling through the desert

In Norwegian, the is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So:

• ørken = desert
• ørkenen = the desert

That -en ending is doing the job of English the.

If there is an adjective, Norwegian often uses double definiteness, for example:

• den varme ørkenen = the warm desert

Here you get both den and the noun ending -en.

This is the normal word order for a simple main clause:

• subject + verb + rest

So:

• Vi = subject
• reiser = finite verb
• gjennom ørkenen = prepositional phrase

Norwegian is a V2 language, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in main clauses.

For example, you can move gjennom ørkenen to the front, but then the verb still stays second:

• Gjennom ørkenen reiser vi

That is grammatical, but less neutral than Vi reiser gjennom ørkenen.

Often, yes.

• å reise = to travel
• å dra = to go / leave, and very often also to travel

So Vi drar gjennom ørkenen is possible and natural in many situations.

The difference is often slight:

• reiser can sound a bit more like travel/journey
• drar can sound a bit more everyday, like go

In many real-life contexts, both work.

A rough guide:

• vi ≈ vee
• reiser ≈ RYE-ser
• gjennom ≈ YEN-nom for many speakers
• ørkenen has the vowel ø, which has no exact English equivalent

About ø:

• it is similar to German ö or French eu
• keep your lips rounded
• do not pronounce it like plain English o

So ørkenen is only roughly something like UR-ke-nen, but that is just an approximation.

One more useful note: the gj in gjennom is usually pronounced like y in many modern pronunciations.

Yes. Norwegian simple present can often cover what English expresses with am/is/are ...ing, depending on context.

So Vi reiser gjennom ørkenen can naturally be understood as:

• We are traveling through the desert

If you want to stress that the action is in progress right now, Norwegian can also use expressions like:

• Vi holder på å reise gjennom ørkenen

But in many cases, the simple present is enough.