Ingen sover om dagen.

No one sleeps during the day.

Breakdown of Ingen sover om dagen.

• sove: to sleep
• dagen: the day
• om: during
• ingen: no one

Questions & Answers about Ingen sover om dagen.

What does ingen mean in this sentence?

Ingen is an indefinite pronoun meaning “no one” or “nobody.” Here it negates the subject:

• ingen sover = “nobody sleeps.”

Why does Norwegian use ingen here instead of ikke?

• ingen negates a noun/pronoun (“no one”), so it replaces the subject.
• ikke negates a verb, adjective or entire clause (“not”).
  In English you say “nobody sleeps,” not “not sleeps,” so you choose ingen.

Why is the verb sover just in the present tense? There’s no continuous form like in English.

Norwegian does not distinguish between simple present (“sleeps”) and present continuous (“is sleeping”). The present tense sover can mean both:

• “Nobody sleeps during the day.”
• “Nobody is sleeping during the day.”

What does om dagen literally mean, and how is om used here?