Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Tradisjonen lever videre. - The tradition lives on.

Hardcore Norwegian
/Training for a community road race
/Tradisjonen lever videre.

Tradisjonen lever videre.

Word

Tradisjonen lever videre.

Meaning

The tradition lives on.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Norwegian

Lesson

Training for a community road race

Breakdown of Tradisjonen lever videre.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Norwegian grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Norwegian now

Questions & Answers about Tradisjonen lever videre.

Why is it tradisjonen and not just tradisjon?

Because tradisjonen is the definite singular form: the tradition.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun:

en tradisjon = a tradition
tradisjonen = the tradition

So the sentence is talking about a specific tradition, not traditions in general.

What form of the verb is lever?

Lever is the present tense of å leve (to live).

So:

å leve = to live
lever = live / lives / am living / is living, depending on context

Norwegian does not change the verb for different subjects the way English does:

jeg lever = I live
du lever = you live
tradisjonen lever = the tradition lives

Does lever literally mean lives here?

Yes, but it is being used figuratively.

Literally, å leve means to live, as in being alive. But Norwegian also uses it figuratively in sentences like this, where a tradition, idea, custom, or memory is said to live on or continue to exist.

So Tradisjonen lever videre sounds natural in Norwegian, just like English can say The tradition lives on.

What does videre mean in this sentence?

Here, videre means something like on, further, or continuing.

In this sentence, it works with lever to give the sense:

lives on
continues
keeps going

So lever videre is a common combination meaning that something continues into the future.

Why doesn’t Norwegian use a separate word for on, like in English lives on?

Because Norwegian expresses this idea differently.

English uses the verb plus particle:

live on

Norwegian often uses:

leve videre

So instead of matching English word-for-word, Norwegian uses videre to express the idea of continuation. This is very common and natural.

Could I also say Tradisjonen fortsetter?

Yes. Tradisjonen fortsetter is also correct and natural.

There is a slight difference in feel:

Tradisjonen lever videre = the tradition lives on; a bit more vivid or poetic
Tradisjonen fortsetter = the tradition continues; a bit more straightforward

Both work, but lever videre has a nice idiomatic sense when talking about customs, heritage, and culture.

Can videre move to another position in the sentence?

In a simple sentence like this, Tradisjonen lever videre is the most natural word order.

Norwegian main clauses usually follow verb-second word order, and with a normal subject-first sentence, the pattern is:

Subject + verb + other elements

So:

Tradisjonen = subject
lever = verb
videre = adverb

You might see different word order in poetry, emphasis, or more complex sentences, but for everyday neutral Norwegian, Tradisjonen lever videre is the standard phrasing.

Why is there no word for is or does in the sentence?

Because Norwegian does not need extra helper verbs here.

English sometimes uses extra words depending on the structure, but in Norwegian the simple present verb often does the whole job:

Tradisjonen lever videre = The tradition lives on

There is no need for a separate word like is or does.

How is Tradisjonen lever videre pronounced?

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

trah-dee-SYOO-nen LEH-ver vee-DEH-reh

A few helpful notes:

tradisjonen has the stress on sjo
lever is pronounced like LEH-ver, not like English leave-er
videre has four syllables: vi-de-re

The exact pronunciation will depend a little on dialect, but that guide is close for standard East Norwegian pronunciation.

Is this Bokmål or Nynorsk?

This spelling is Bokmål.

In Nynorsk, you would normally write:

Tradisjonen lever vidare

The only difference here is:

Bokmål: videre
Nynorsk: vidare

Everything else in the sentence is essentially the same.

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io