Fedrekvoten kan deles.

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

Here, fedrekvoten is built from:

• fedre- = father/fathers
• kvote = quota

So fedrekvote is a fixed compound meaning something like father's quota or paternity quota, and fedrekvoten means the father's quota / the paternity quota.

This is very common in Norwegian. English sometimes does this too, but less consistently.

That is a very natural question.

The singular noun is far = father, but the plural is fedre = fathers. In some Norwegian compounds, the first part uses a form like fedre- rather than the basic singular form.

So fedrekvote is just the established word. You should learn it as a complete vocabulary item, rather than trying to build it from far every time.

In other words:

• far = father
• fedre = fathers
• fedrekvote = the fixed term for the father's reserved leave quota

The fedre- part here does not mean the sentence is talking about multiple fathers.

The ending -en marks the noun as definite, like the in English.

So:

• en fedrekvote = a father's quota / a paternity quota
• fedrekvoten = the father's quota / the paternity quota

Norwegian often attaches definiteness to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

Kan is the present-tense form of kunne, and here it means can.

So:

• kan = can / is able to

In this sentence, it shows possibility:

• Fedrekvoten kan deles = The father's quota can be shared/divided

Also, modal verbs like kan do not change according to the subject the way English sometimes does. You use kan with jeg, du, han, vi, and so on.

Because after a modal verb such as kan, Norwegian normally uses the verb without å.

Compare:

• å dele = to share / to divide
• kan dele = can share / can divide

In this sentence, the passive form is used, so you get:

• kan deles = can be shared / can be divided

So the short answer is: after kan, you do not use å.

Deles is a passive form of dele.

• dele = share / divide
• deles = be shared / be divided

So the sentence is passive:

• Fedrekvoten kan deles
• literally: The father's quota can be shared/divided

This -s passive is very common in Norwegian, especially in formal or neutral language.

Because Norwegian can express the passive by adding -s to the verb, instead of using a separate word like be.

English:

• can be shared

Norwegian:

• kan deles

So deles already contains the passive idea.

Norwegian also has another passive-style construction:

• kan bli delt

That also means can be shared / can be divided, but kan deles is shorter and very natural here.

It can mean either, depending on context.

The verb dele can mean:

• to divide
• to share

So kan deles can be understood as:

• can be divided
• can be shared

In a sentence about parental leave, shared is often the most natural English choice, but divided is also close to the Norwegian wording.

The word order is very typical for a simple Norwegian main clause:

• Fedrekvoten = subject
• kan = finite verb
• deles = main verb

So the pattern is basically:

• Subject + finite verb + main verb

More generally, Norwegian main clauses follow the verb-second rule, meaning the finite verb usually comes in the second position. Here, kan is in that second position.

Yes, in many varieties of Bokmål, that is possible.

The noun kvote can often appear with either:

• kvoten
• kvota

So both of these can be acceptable depending on style and language preference:

• Fedrekvoten kan deles
• Fedrekvota kan deles

The version in your sentence, fedrekvoten, is completely standard.