Det er vanskelig å sovne uten musikk.

to be

Breakdown of Det er vanskelig å sovne uten musikk.

• å: to
• det: it
• musikken: the music

Questions & Answers about Det er vanskelig å sovne uten musikk.

What does sovne mean in this sentence?

sovne is the infinitive form of the verb å sovne, meaning to fall asleep. It’s not conjugated here; it expresses the general action of falling asleep.

Why is there an å before sovne?

In Norwegian, when you describe the difficulty, ability or intention of doing something, you use the infinitive marker å (like English to). After an adjective such as vanskelig, you need å + infinitive. So vanskelig å sovne = difficult to fall asleep.

Why does the sentence start with Det er? Can’t we just say Vanskelig å sovne uten musikk?

Det er is an impersonal subject construction meaning it is. Norwegian grammatically requires a subject, so Det er fills that slot. In notes or headlines you might drop it, but in normal speech or writing you say Det er vanskelig å sovne uten musikk.

Why is there no article before musikk in uten musikk?

Here musikk is an uncountable noun talking about music in general, so it doesn’t take an indefinite article (en). And since we mean “without music” generally, you also don’t use the definite form (musikken). Hence simply uten musikk.