Han prøver å snike seg hjem.

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Breakdown of Han prøver å snike seg hjem.

• å: to
• prøve: to try
• hjem: home

Questions & Answers about Han prøver å snike seg hjem.

Why are there two verbs here: prøver and snike?

This is very common in Norwegian.

• prøver is the finite verb: it shows tense and agrees with the sentence structure.
• å snike is an infinitive phrase: to sneak.

So the pattern is:

• Han prøver å ... = He tries to ...

Only prøver is conjugated here. snike stays in the infinitive because it comes after å.

A similar example:

• Hun liker å lese. = She likes to read.

What is the job of å in this sentence?

Å is the infinitive marker, like English to before a verb.

So:

• å snike = to sneak
• å spise = to eat
• å gå = to go

In Han prøver å snike seg hjem, å links prøver to the action he is trying to do.

Why is it snike seg and not just snike?