Learn Hardcore Norwegian: På billige kafeer blir knivene ofte byttet ut hver uke. - In cheap cafés the knives are often replaced each week.

På billige kafeer literally means at cheap cafés. In Norwegian, på is commonly used with locations like cafés, schools, or offices, especially when you talk about being “at” or “on” such places in a general sense. You could say i billige kafeer, but that sounds a bit less idiomatic when talking about visiting or working at cafés.

Why is billige kafeer in the plural form without any article like de or noen?

When you talk about “cheap cafés” in general, you use the indefinite plural (no article). Adding noen (some) would emphasize a subset (“some cheap cafés”), and de billige kafeene would refer to specific cafés already known to the listener (“the cheap cafés”).

Why is knivene in the definite plural? Doesn’t that mean “the knives” instead of “knives”?

Norwegian often uses the definite plural when talking about things in a general, habitual sense. Here, knivene means “the knives” in cheap cafés in general: “In cheap cafés, the knives (in those cafés) are often replaced every week.”

How does the passive construction blir knivene ofte byttet ut work?

This is the present passive formed with bli (in present tense blir) plus the past participle of a verb. Bytte ut means “to replace,” so its past participle is byttet ut. Together blir … byttet ut means “are being replaced” or simply “are replaced.”

Why is byttet ut written as two words instead of one?

Bytte ut is a separable verb: the infinitive is å bytte ut, and in the passive past-participle form you keep both parts together as byttet ut. You never join them into a single word.

Where should the adverb ofte go, and why is it placed before byttet ut?

In Norwegian main clauses, adverbs of frequency like ofte typically come before the main verb or verb phrase in V2 word order. In the passive here, the verb phrase is blir byttet ut, so ofte sits between blir and byttet ut: blir knivene ofte byttet ut.

What does hver uke mean, and why not hver uken?

Hver uke means every week. After hver, you always use the indefinite form of the noun (uke), not the definite one (uken).

Could you rephrase the sentence more actively, and would it change the meaning?

Yes. An active version is: På billige kafeer bytter de ofte knivene ut hver uke.
This literally means “At cheap cafés, they often replace the knives every week.” The meaning stays the same, but the focus shifts slightly: the passive highlights the knives being replaced, while the active highlights who does the replacing (de).