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Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart. - Hopefully the bus will come soon.

Hardcore Norwegian
/Taking part in a housing-cooperative general meeting
/Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.

Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.

Word

Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.

Meaning

Hopefully the bus will come soon.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Norwegian

Lesson

Taking part in a housing-cooperative general meeting

Breakdown of Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.

forhåpentligvis

Questions & Answers about Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.

Why is kommer before bussen? In English, I would expect the subject before the verb.

This is because Norwegian main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in the second position.

In this sentence, Forhåpentligvis is placed first. That means the verb kommer has to come next, and the subject bussen comes after it:

Forhåpentligvis
- kommer
  - bussen
    - snart

Compare:

Bussen kommer snart. = the subject is first, so the verb comes second
Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart. = the adverb is first, so the verb still comes second

This word order is very common in Norwegian.

What kind of word is forhåpentligvis?

Forhåpentligvis is an adverb, more specifically a sentence adverb. It does not describe just one word; it comments on the whole sentence.

It works like English hopefully:

Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.
Hopefully, the bus will come soon.

It shows the speaker’s attitude: the speaker hopes this will happen.

Can I also say Bussen kommer forhåpentligvis snart?

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Yes, that is possible.

Both are natural, but the emphasis is a little different:

Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.
This puts hopefully right at the front, so the hopeful attitude is highlighted immediately.
Bussen kommer forhåpentligvis snart.
This starts with the bus, so it sounds a little more like the bus is the topic, and then the speaker adds hopefully.

Both are grammatical. Norwegian often allows some flexibility with adverb placement, but the V2 rule still applies in main clauses.

Why is it bussen and not en buss?

Bussen means the bus. The ending -en is the definite singular ending for many masculine/common-gender nouns in Bokmål.

So:

en buss = a bus
bussen = the bus

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific bus, probably one both speaker and listener know about.

What tense is kommer?

Kommer is the present tense of å komme = to come.

Even though it is present tense, Norwegian often uses the present tense for things that are expected to happen soon, especially with schedules, routines, or near-future events.

So kommer here can naturally mean something like:

is coming soon
will come soon

This is very normal in Norwegian.

Why doesn’t Norwegian use something like will come here?

It can, but it usually does not need to.

In Norwegian, the present tense is very often enough for near-future meaning, especially with public transport, appointments, and timetables.

So:

Bussen kommer snart. = very natural
Bussen skal komme snart. = possible, but less neutral
Bussen vil komme snart. = usually not the most natural choice here

Using plain present tense is the most idiomatic option in a sentence like this.

What does snart mean, and where does it usually go?

Snart means soon.

It is an adverb of time, and it often appears near the end of the sentence:

Bussen kommer snart.

In your sentence:

Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.

That is a very normal position.

You can also move snart to the front, but then the verb still has to stay in second position:

Snart kommer bussen.

That sounds a bit more literary or dramatic depending on context, but it is grammatical.

What is the infinitive of kommer?

The infinitive is å komme.

A few common forms are:

å komme = to come
kommer = come / is coming
kom = came
har kommet = have/has come

So in your sentence, kommer is simply the present-tense form of å komme.

Is forhåpentligvis used the same way as English hopefully?

Mostly yes.

It is used as a sentence adverb to mean it is hoped that... or with luck:

Forhåpentligvis kommer bussen snart.

This is standard and normal Norwegian.

It is not usually understood literally as in a hopeful manner. Instead, it comments on the whole situation, just like modern English hopefully often does.

If I remove forhåpentligvis, what happens to the word order?

Then the sentence becomes:

Bussen kommer snart.

Now the subject bussen is first, so the verb kommer stays second. That is the basic Norwegian word order for a simple main clause:

subject + verb + other elements

Adding forhåpentligvis to the front changes the order because of the V2 rule, but the sentence still follows the same underlying pattern: the finite verb stays in second position.

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