Noen ganger legger jeg meg sent fordi jeg hører på musikk.

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

So when Noen ganger is placed first, the verb legger has to come next:

• Noen ganger legger jeg meg sent
• literally: Sometimes go-to-bed I late

If the sentence started with Jeg, then the word order would be:

• Jeg legger meg sent noen ganger fordi jeg hører på musikk.

Both are possible, but starting with Noen ganger gives extra emphasis to sometimes.

Noen ganger means sometimes or at times.

Word by word:

• noen = some
• ganger = times

So literally it is some times, just like English sometimes in meaning.

Legger meg comes from the verb å legge seg, which means to go to bed or more literally to lay oneself down.

It has two parts here:

• legger = present tense of å legge
• meg = myself / me

So Norwegian often uses a reflexive form here, where English just says go to bed.

Examples:

• Jeg legger meg tidlig. = I go to bed early.
• Jeg legger meg sent. = I go to bed late.

Because the subject is jeg = I.

Norwegian reflexive/object forms change with the person:

• jeg ... meg = I ... myself
• du ... deg = you ... yourself
• han/hun/den/det ... seg = he/she/it ... himself/herself/itself
• vi ... oss = we ... ourselves
• dere ... dere = you ... yourselves
• de ... seg = they ... themselves

So:

• Jeg legger meg = I go to bed
• Han legger seg = He goes to bed

Sent is the adverb form, meaning late.

Compare:

• sen = late, as an adjective with some noun forms
• sent = late, used adverbially

In this sentence, sent describes when the action happens, so Norwegian uses the adverb:

• Jeg legger meg sent. = I go to bed late.

A useful comparison:

• et sent tog = a late train
• Toget kommer sent. = The train arrives late.

Because fordi introduces a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses usually do not use the V2 pattern.

So after fordi, the normal order is:

• subject + verb
• jeg hører

That is why you get:

• ... fordi jeg hører på musikk

Compare:

• Main clause: Jeg hører på musikk.
• After fordi: ... fordi jeg hører på musikk.

This is an important difference between main clauses and subordinate clauses in Norwegian.

This is a very common question.

• å høre = to hear
• å høre på = to listen to

So:

• Jeg hører musikk can sound like I hear music
• Jeg hører på musikk means I am listening to music

In this sentence, the meaning is active listening, so på is needed.

More examples:

• Jeg hører deg. = I hear you.
• Jeg hører på radio. = I listen to the radio.

Because in Norwegian, uncountable nouns like music often appear without an article, just like in English.

So:

• musikk = music

You would not normally say en musikk for the general idea of music.

Examples:

• Jeg liker musikk. = I like music.
• Hun studerer musikk. = She studies music.

It is in the present tense:

• legger
• hører

But in both Norwegian and English, the present tense is often used for habitual actions:

• Noen ganger legger jeg meg sent ...
• Sometimes I go to bed late ...

So even though it describes something that happens repeatedly, Norwegian still uses the present tense.

In Norwegian, the present tense is often formed by adding -r to the infinitive:

• å høre → hører
• å legge → legger

So:

• jeg hører = I hear / I am hearing / I listen
• jeg legger meg = I go to bed / I am going to bed

Norwegian present tense is quite flexible and can cover meanings that English expresses with both simple present and present continuous, depending on context.

Not perfectly. A word-for-word version would sound unnatural in English.

Very literal:

• Sometimes go-to-bed I myself late because I listen to music.

Natural English:

• Sometimes I go to bed late because I listen to music.
• or Sometimes I go to bed late because I’m listening to music.

This sentence is a good example of why it is better to learn patterns rather than translate every word directly.

No.

• å legge seg = to go to bed
• å sove = to sleep

So:

• Jeg legger meg sent. = I go to bed late.
• Jeg sover sent. is unusual if you mean go to bed late; it would mean something more like I sleep late.

That distinction is the same as in English:

• go to bed
• sleep

In everyday spoken Norwegian, some speakers do sometimes use main-clause-like word order after fordi, especially in informal speech. But for learners, the safest and most standard pattern is:

• fordi + subject + verb
• fordi jeg hører på musikk

So if you are learning standard grammar, this sentence is a good model to follow.