Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Soverommet har en lysbryter ved døren og en hylle over sengen. - The bedroom has a light switch by the door and a shelf above the bed.

Soverommet is the definite form of soverom (“bedroom”). In Bokmål, neuter nouns add -et to become definite. Here, soverom + -et yields soverommet, i.e. “the bedroom.”

How does the verb har function in this sentence? Does it always translate as “has”?

Har is the present tense of å ha (“to have”). In Norwegian you often say a room “has” something to describe its contents. So Soverommet har en lysbryter… literally means “The bedroom has a light switch….” It doesn’t always mean possession in the personal sense; it can simply list what exists in a place.

Why do we use en before lysbryter and hylle?

Both lysbryter (“light switch”) and hylle (“shelf”) are common-gender nouns in Norwegian Bokmål. The indefinite article for singular common gender is en. Hence en lysbryter and en hylle.

Why is døren in the definite form (with -en) instead of saying en dør or just dør?

We refer to the specific door of the bedroom, so we use the definite form døren. Ved døren means “by the door,” i.e. next to that particular door. If you said en dør, it would mean “a door” in general, not the bedroom’s door.

What does the preposition ved mean here? Could I use a different preposition?

Ved means “by,” “beside,” or “at.” Ved døren = “by the door.” You could also say ved siden av døren to mean “right next to the door,” or nær døren (“near the door”), but ved is more common for “at/by.”

Why is sengen definite while hylle remains indefinite?

Sengen (“the bed”) is definite because it’s the one known bed in that bedroom. Hylle is indefinite (en hylle) because you’re introducing a shelf as a new, unspecified item the room “has.” If you later refer back to that shelf, you could say hylla (“the shelf”).

What’s the difference between using har and det er when talking about items in a room?

Using har focuses on what the room “has”:
Soverommet har et vindu.
Using det er states existence/“there is”:
Det er et vindu i soverommet.
Both are correct but offer slightly different perspectives: possession vs. existence.

Why is lysbryter written as one word instead of lys bryter?

Norwegian commonly forms compound nouns by joining words together. Lys (“light”) + bryter (“switch”) becomes the single noun lysbryter (“light switch”), with the main stress on the first element.

Is the word order in this Norwegian sentence the same as in English?

Yes—it follows Subject–Verb–Object (SVO), just like English.
Soverommet (S) har (V) en lysbryter ved døren og en hylle over sengen (O/adverbials).