Vi lengter hjem.

Lengter is the present tense form of the verb å lengte.

• å lengte = to long / to yearn
• jeg lengter = I long
• vi lengter = we long

A few useful forms:

• å lengte = infinitive
• lengter = present
• lengtet = past
• har lengtet = present perfect

You only use å with the infinitive, so:

• Vi lengter hjem. = correct
• Vi å lengte hjem. = not correct

Here hjem means home, but more specifically it has the sense of toward home or to be back home.

So Vi lengter hjem means something like:

• We long for home
• We long to go home
• We’re yearning to be home

In Norwegian, hjem is often used without a preposition in expressions connected with going or returning home.

This is a very common question.

The short version:

• hjem = home / to home / toward home
• hjemme = at home

So:

• Vi er hjemme. = We are at home.
• Vi drar hjem. = We’re going home.
• Vi lengter hjem. = We long for home / long to be home.

Even though lengter is not a movement verb like go, Norwegian still uses hjem in this idiomatic way to express a pull toward home.

Because Norwegian often treats hjem as a special word that can stand on its own after certain verbs.

For example:

• gå hjem = go home
• komme hjem = come home
• reise hjem = travel home
• flytte hjem = move back home
• lengte hjem = long for home

In English, we often need words like for or to, but Norwegian frequently does not.

So although English says long for home, Norwegian naturally says lengte hjem.

Not really in the usual direct-object sense.

In Vi lengter hjem, hjem works more like an adverbial/directional complement than a normal noun object. It tells you the direction or goal of the longing.

That is one reason there is:

• no article
• no preposition
• no object marking

This is similar to how home behaves in English in sentences like We went home.

Yes, you could, but it means something a bit different and sounds less idiomatic in many situations.

Compare:

• Vi lengter hjem.
  = We long for home / We want to be back home.
  This is the most natural way to express homesickness or a desire to return home.

• Vi lengter etter hjemmet vårt.
  = We long for our home / our house.
  This focuses more on the home itself as a place or possession.

So if you mean a general feeling of wanting to be back where you belong, Vi lengter hjem is usually the best choice.

Good question. Savne and lengte are related, but they are not the same.

• savne = miss
• lengte = long / yearn

Examples:

• Vi savner hjemmet vårt. = We miss our home.
• Vi lengter hjem. = We long to be home.

Savne often emphasizes absence: something is missing from your life right now.

Lengte often emphasizes desire: you strongly want something, especially in an emotional way.

So Vi lengter hjem can sound stronger and more emotional than simply We miss home.

Yes, very natural.

Norwegian speakers commonly use lengte hjem when talking about:

• being away for a long time
• feeling homesick
• wanting to return home
• children away at camp
• students or workers abroad
• people traveling for a long period

It is a simple, idiomatic sentence.

The word order is straightforward:

• Vi = subject
• lengter = verb
• hjem = complement/adverbial

So the structure is:

Subject + verb + hjem

This is the normal word order in a main clause.

If you move another element to the front, Norwegian usually uses V2 word order, meaning the verb still stays in second position. For example:

• Nå lengter vi hjem. = Now we long for home.
• Etter tre måneder lengter vi hjem. = After three months, we long for home.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

vee LENG-ter yem

A few notes:

• vi sounds like vee
• lengter has two syllables: LENG-ter
• hjem begins with a y-like sound in English, roughly yem

The exact pronunciation can vary a little by dialect, but that approximation will help you say it understandably.