Hold undertøyet hjemme for ikke å blande det med yttertøyet.

Hold is the imperative form of å holde.

So this sentence is giving an instruction or command:

• å holde = to keep / to hold
• hold! = keep! / hold!

In this sentence, hold undertøyet hjemme means something like keep the underwear at home.

A native English speaker may expect something closer to keep, and that is exactly how hold is functioning here, even though the basic verb holde can also mean hold in other contexts.

The ending -et is the definite article attached to the noun.

Both undertøy and yttertøy are neuter nouns, so:

• et undertøy = an underwear garment / underwear

• undertøyet = the underwear

• et yttertøy = an outer garment / outerwear
• yttertøyet = the outerwear

Norwegian usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

So:

• undertøyet = the underwear
• yttertøyet = the outerwear

Det refers back to undertøyet.

Since undertøy is a neuter singular noun, the pronoun that matches it is det.

So:

• undertøyet → det

In English, we might say it:

• for ikke å blande det med yttertøyet
• so as not to mix it with the outerwear

Even though underwear can feel plural or mass-like in English, Norwegian is treating undertøyet here as a singular neuter noun.

They are compound words:

• under
  • tøy = undertøy
• ytter
  • tøy = yttertøy

Here:

• under- means under
• ytter- means outer
• tøy means cloth / clothes / clothing

So literally:

• undertøy = under-clothes = underwear
• yttertøy = outer-clothes = outerwear

This kind of compound formation is very common in Norwegian.

This is a very common learner question.

• hjemme usually means at home and describes a location
• hjem often means home in the sense of to home / homeward or the place itself

In this sentence, the idea is location:

• Hold undertøyet hjemme = Keep the underwear at home

So hjemme is used because the underwear is being kept at home, not moved home.

Compare:

• Jeg er hjemme. = I am at home.
• Jeg går hjem. = I am going home.

This means in order not to mix or so as not to mix.

Breakdown:

• for = for / in order to
• ikke = not
• å blande = to mix

So:

• for ikke å blande det med yttertøyet
• in order not to mix it with the outerwear

This structure is very common in Norwegian when you explain the purpose of an action, especially in instructions.

Because in this kind of infinitive phrase, Norwegian normally places ikke before the infinitive marker å.

So:

• for ikke å blande = in order not to mix

This is the usual pattern in standard Norwegian for a negated infinitive phrase of purpose.

A learner might expect something like for å ikke blande, and you may hear that too, but for ikke å blande is the more standard and textbook-friendly structure.

Because the verb å blande often takes med when you mix one thing with another.

Pattern:

• blande noe med noe
• mix something with something

So:

• blande det med yttertøyet
• mix it with the outerwear

This works very much like English mix X with Y.

Because Norwegian usually marks definiteness by adding it to the noun itself.

So instead of saying:

• the underwear
• the outerwear

Norwegian says:

• undertøyet
• yttertøyet

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English.

Very often:

• en bil = a car

• bilen = the car

• et hus = a house
• huset = the house

The same pattern is happening here with neuter nouns:

• et undertøy → undertøyet
• et yttertøy → yttertøyet

It is understandable and grammatically fine, especially as an instruction. But depending on context, a Norwegian speaker might choose a slightly different verb if they want to sound more specific or natural.

Possible alternatives:

• Oppbevar undertøyet hjemme for ikke å blande det med yttertøyet.
  Store the underwear at home so as not to mix it with the outerwear.

• La undertøyet bli hjemme for ikke å blande det med yttertøyet.
  Leave the underwear at home so as not to mix it with the outerwear.

The original sentence still works, but hold can sound a little general in English translation. In Norwegian, though, it is a normal enough instruction verb.

The sentence follows a very normal Norwegian pattern:

• Hold = verb
• undertøyet = object
• hjemme = adverb of place
• for ikke å blande det med yttertøyet = purpose phrase

So the structure is roughly:

Verb + object + place + purpose

That gives:

• Hold undertøyet hjemme for ikke å blande det med yttertøyet.

A literal mapping would be:

• Keep the underwear at home in order not to mix it with the outerwear.

So the word order is not strange; it is just more compact than the way English often phrases the same idea.