Breakdown of Vi reiser til Oslo år etter år.
vi
we
til
to
Oslo
Oslo
reise
to travel
år etter år
year after year
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Questions & Answers about Vi reiser til Oslo år etter år.
What does reiser mean and what tense is it?
Reiser is the present‐tense form of the verb reise (“to travel”). With the subject vi (“we”) it literally means “we travel.” In Norwegian the simple present often expresses habitual or repeated actions, so here it conveys “we (habitually) travel to Oslo.”
Why is til used before Oslo and what does it translate to?
Til is the preposition that corresponds to English “to” when indicating direction or destination. Thus til Oslo simply means “to Oslo.”
Why is there no article before Oslo? Could you ever say til det Oslo?
City names and other proper nouns don’t take a definite article in Norwegian. You always say til Oslo, never til det Oslo or til en Oslo.
What does the phrase år etter år mean?
Literally it’s “year after year.” It’s an idiomatic expression for an action that repeats over many years. In English you’d say “year after year” or “year in, year out.”
Can I use hvert år instead of år etter år, or is there a difference?
Yes, you can say hvert år (“every year”), but it’s more neutral and simply states that something happens each year. År etter år adds emphasis and a sense of ongoing repetition—“again and again, year after year.”
Why is år repeated? Is it just an idiom pattern?
Exactly. Norwegian uses the pattern noun – etter – same noun for phrases like dag etter dag (“day after day”), time etter time (“time after time”), and år etter år (“year after year”). Etter means “after,” so you get “day after day,” etc.
Is the plural of år different from the singular?
No. År is invariable in the plural. You say et år (one year), to år (two years), flere år (several years). The definite forms are året (the year) and årene (the years).
How do you pronounce år etter år, especially the å sound?
År is pronounced [oːr], similar to the “o” in English “more” but held a bit longer. Etter is [ˈetːər]. So altogether: [oːr ˈetːər oːr].
Can I move år etter år to the beginning of the sentence?
Yes. Norwegian allows adverbial phrases up front:
År etter år reiser vi til Oslo.
You can even add a comma for style: År etter år, reiser vi til Oslo.