Vi kjøper vann samt mat.

Vi means we.

It is the subject pronoun used when the speaker is talking about themself together with one or more other people.

Examples:

• Vi kjøper vann. = We buy water.
• Vi bor i Norge. = We live in Norway.

Kjøper is the present tense form of the verb å kjøpe (to buy).

So:

• å kjøpe = to buy
• kjøper = buy / am buying / are buying / is buying

In Norwegian, the present tense form is the same for all subjects:

• jeg kjøper = I buy
• du kjøper = you buy
• vi kjøper = we buy

That is simpler than English, where the verb changes in some cases, such as he buys.

Samt means and, as well as, or along with.

In this sentence, it links vann and mat:

• vann samt mat = water as well as food

A very important point: samt is usually a bit more formal or written than og.

So:

• Vi kjøper vann og mat. = more everyday, common
• Vi kjøper vann samt mat. = correct, but slightly more formal or stiff

Yes, in this sentence you usually can.

• Vi kjøper vann og mat.
• Vi kjøper vann samt mat.

Both are correct, but og is much more common in normal conversation.

A learner should know:

• og = the basic everyday word for and
• samt = more formal, often seen in writing, lists, announcements, or official language

Because vann and mat are being used in a general sense, much like water and food in English.

Norwegian often leaves out the article when talking about things in a general or uncountable way:

• Vi kjøper vann. = We buy water.
• Hun lager mat. = She makes food.

These are often treated like mass nouns here, not specific individual items.

If you wanted to be more specific, you might add other words:

• Vi kjøper maten. = We buy the food.
• Vi kjøper litt mat. = We buy some food.

Yes, they are singular in form, but in this sentence they are used as uncountable/general nouns.

That is similar to English:

• water is grammatically singular, but it refers to a substance
• food is also often treated as a general category

So vann and mat here do not mean one water or one food. They mean the general things water and food.

The word order is:

Subject + Verb + Object

• Vi = subject
• kjøper = verb
• vann samt mat = object

So:

• Vi kjøper vann samt mat.
• literally: We buy water and food.

This is the normal straightforward order in a main clause.

Yes. Norwegian present tense often covers both:

• we buy
• we are buying

So Vi kjøper vann samt mat can mean either:

• a general present action: We buy water and food
• an action happening now, depending on context: We are buying water and food

Norwegian does have ways to make the right now meaning clearer, but the simple present often does the job by itself.

The tricky part is kjø.

A rough guide:

• kj in many dialects sounds like a soft hy-like sound
• ø is a vowel that does not exist in standard English

So kjøper is roughly something like HYUH-per or KYUR-per, but neither is exact.

A few helpful notes:

• ø is a rounded front vowel; you make a sound somewhat between English uh and ir, with rounded lips
• the r in kjøper may sound different depending on dialect

If you are learning standard Eastern Norwegian pronunciation, listen to native audio and imitate the vowel carefully.

It is grammatically correct, but slightly more natural in everyday speech would be:

Vi kjøper vann og mat.

Why?

• og is the normal spoken word for and
• samt sounds more formal or written

So the original sentence is fine, but if you want to sound more conversational, use og.

Mat most often means food, but depending on context it can sometimes refer more loosely to something to eat or even a meal.

In this sentence:

• Vi kjøper vann samt mat the most natural interpretation is water and food, not specifically a meal.

So here it is best understood as the general noun food.

Here are the basic forms:

• vi = we
• å kjøpe = to buy
• vann = water
• samt = and / as well as
• mat = food

The verb appears in the sentence as kjøper, which is the present tense of å kjøpe.