Vi er halvveis.

• Vi = we
• er = present tense of å være (to be)
• halvveis = halfway

So the structure is:

subject + verb + predicative expression

That is very normal in Norwegian:

• Vi er klare. = We are ready.
• Vi er hjemme. = We are at home.
• Vi er halvveis. = We are halfway.

Because Norwegian uses å være (to be) for this idea, just like English does in We are halfway.

You use har (have) for possession or for some completed-action structures, but not here.

Compare:

• Vi er halvveis. = We are halfway.
• Vi har en plan. = We have a plan.

So in this sentence, er is the natural and correct choice.

Halvveis is usually treated as an adverb or an adverb-like expression meaning halfway.

In a sentence like Vi er halvveis, it comes after er and describes the situation/state.

This is similar to other Norwegian words that often appear after å være:

• Vi er hjemme. = We are home.
• Hun er ute. = She is outside.
• Vi er halvveis. = We are halfway.

So even if it may feel adjective-like in English, it is best to learn halvveis as the normal Norwegian word for halfway.

Because that is simply how Norwegian writes this expression: halvveis.

It is built from:

• halv = half
• veis = related to way/road/path

But in modern Norwegian, you should learn halvveis as a fixed single word meaning halfway.

Do not split it into two words.

It can be used both literally and figuratively.

Literal:

• Vi er halvveis til Oslo. = We are halfway to Oslo.

Figurative:

• Vi er halvveis i prosjektet. = We are halfway through the project.
• Vi er halvveis ferdige. = We are halfway done.

So Vi er halvveis by itself can work in many situations, depending on context.

Almost — but with vi, you normally want ferdige, not ferdig.

• Vi er halvveis ferdige. = We are halfway done.

Why? Because vi is plural, and when ferdig is used predicatively with a plural subject, it becomes ferdige.

Compare:

• Jeg er ferdig. = I am finished.
• Vi er ferdige. = We are finished.

So:

• Vi er halvveis. = We are halfway.
• Vi er halvveis ferdige. = We are halfway done.

Yes. In a basic statement, the order is:

Vi er halvveis.

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

So if you move another element to the front, the subject comes after the verb:

• Nå er vi halvveis. = Now we are halfway.
• Endelig er vi halvveis. = Finally, we are halfway.

In a yes/no question:

• Er vi halvveis? = Are we halfway?

That word order is very important in Norwegian.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

vee ehr HAHLV-vice

A few notes:

• Vi sounds roughly like English vee
• er is a short Norwegian are/is/am form; in careful speech it sounds something like ehr
• halvveis has the main stress on the first syllable: HALV-veis

Depending on dialect and speaking speed, pronunciation can vary a bit, especially er.

Yes. You may sometimes see halvvegs instead of halvveis.

• halvveis is standard in Bokmål
• halvvegs is common in Nynorsk and in some dialect-influenced writing

For a learner of standard Bokmål, halvveis is the form to use.

Yes, that is also possible, but it is a bit more specific.

• Vi er halvveis. = We are halfway.
• Vi er kommet halvveis. = We have come halfway / We’ve made it halfway.

The shorter sentence Vi er halvveis is more neutral and flexible. The longer version emphasizes progress or how far you have gotten.

No. Vi er halvveis works perfectly as a complete sentence.

But you can add more information if you want:

• Vi er halvveis nå. = We are halfway now.
• Vi er halvveis til Bergen. = We are halfway to Bergen.
• Vi er halvveis i boka. = We are halfway through the book.

So the sentence is complete on its own, but it can also be expanded easily.