Snøen blir måkt tidlig om morgenen.

The snow is cleared early in the morning.

Breakdown of Snøen blir måkt tidlig om morgenen.

• om: at
• morgenen: the morning
• tidlig: early
• bli: to become

Questions & Answers about Snøen blir måkt tidlig om morgenen.

Why do we use blir måkt instead of er måkt?

Blir + past participle expresses a dynamic or processual passive, focusing on the action of shoveling itself. It tells us that someone regularly shovels the snow each morning.
By contrast, er + past participle describes a static result:

• Snøen blir måkt tidlig om morgenen. “The snow gets shoveled early in the morning.” (you regularly shovel it)
• Snøen er måkt. “The snow is shoveled.” (it’s already in a shoveled state)

What is the function of om morgenen in this sentence?

Om morgenen means “in the mornings” and marks a habitual or recurring time frame. It indicates that the action (shoveling) happens regularly every early morning, not just once.

Can we also use the -s passive instead of blir here?

Yes. The s-passive is very common in everyday Norwegian. You can say:
Snøen måkes tidlig om morgenen.
This has exactly the same meaning (“the snow is shoveled early in the morning”) but is shorter and often feels more colloquial.

Why is snøen in the definite form here?

Using the definite form snøen (“the snow”) shows you’re referring to a specific snowfall (for example, the snow on your driveway). If you were talking about snow in general, you’d use the indefinite form snø: “Snø er vakkert.”