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Ingen sover om dagen.

Ingen sover om dagen.
No one sleeps during the day.
FromLesson 15inHardcore Norwegian
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Breakdown of Ingen sover om dagen.

sove
to sleep
dagen
the day
om
during
ingen
no one
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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?
  • om
    • time of day = “during” that period.
  • om dagen = “during the day.”
    Literally om can mean “about,” but in time expressions it means “throughout” or “during.”
Could we say på dagen instead of om dagen?

No, that would normally mean “on the day (of something),” like a specific date or event. For a general period you always use om:

  • om morgenen (in the morning)
  • om kvelden (in the evening)
  • om natten (at night)
Why is dagen in the definite form (ending in –en) with no article in front?

In time-of-day expressions with om, the noun is put in its definite form without a separate article. The –en ending simply marks it as “the day” in a general sense:

  • om dagen
  • om morgenen
  • om sommeren
What is the word order in this sentence, and can we move om dagen to the front?

Default main‐clause order is Subject – Verb – Adverbial:

  1. Ingen (S)
  2. sover (V)
  3. om dagen (Adverbial)

You can front the adverbial, but then the verb and subject swap (inversion):

  • Om dagen sover ingen.
    This is less neutral and often more poetic or emphatic.
Are there similar expressions like om dagen for other times of day or seasons?

Yes, the same pattern applies:

  • om morgenen (“in the morning”)
  • om kvelden (“in the evening”)
  • om natten (“at night”)
  • om vinteren (“in winter”)
  • om sommeren (“in summer”), etc.