Søsteren min hjelper henne på kjøkkenet.

My sister helps her in the kitchen.

Breakdown of Søsteren min hjelper henne på kjøkkenet.

• min: my
• hjelpe: to help
• kjøkkenet: the kitchen
• på: in
• henne: her
• søsteren: the sister

Questions & Answers about Søsteren min hjelper henne på kjøkkenet.

Why is søsteren min used instead of min søster or just søster min?

In Norwegian you have two ways to say “my sister” with a possessive pronoun:

• Before the noun:
min søster
(noun in indefinite form + possessive)

• After the noun:
søsteren min
(noun in definite form + possessive)

You cannot say søster min because when the pronoun follows the noun, the noun must carry the definite ending -en.
Both min søster and søsteren min mean the same, but many speakers find “søsteren min” more colloquial and “min søster” a bit more neutral or bookish.

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What role does henne play in the sentence, and why isn’t it hun?

henne is the object (accusative) form of the third-person singular feminine pronoun. It functions as the direct object of hjelper (“helps”).
• Subject form: hun (“she”)
• Object form: henne (“her”)

Example:
Hun hjelper henne.
(She helps her.)

You can’t use hun here because that would be a subject pronoun in object position.

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Why is på kjøkkenet used to mean “in the kitchen,” and what does the -et ending indicate? Could you say i kjøkkenet instead?

1. Preposition på
   In many contexts Norwegian uses på where English uses “in” or “on” for rooms and places (e.g. på kjøkkenet, på badet, på kontoret).

2. Definite ending -et
   kjøkkenet = “the kitchen.” The suffix -et marks definite neuter singular on the noun kjøkken.

3. Why not i kjøkkenet or et kjøkken?
   • i kjøkkenet (“inside the kitchen”) is grammatically possible but sounds more formal or literal. Everyday speech favours på kjøkkenet.
   • et kjøkken = “a kitchen”; if you said på et kjøkken it would mean “at a kitchen,” not “in our/the kitchen.”

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Why is the present tense hjelper used here instead of a continuous form like English “is helping”? How do you express continuous actions in Norwegian?

Norwegian does not have a separate progressive (continuous) tense. The simple present covers both “helps” and “is helping.”
Søsteren min hjelper henne på kjøkkenet.
(My sister helps her / is helping her in the kitchen.)

If you want to stress that an action is ongoing right now, you can add holde på å + infinitive:
Hun holder på å hjelpe henne på kjøkkenet.
(“She is in the middle of helping her in the kitchen.”)

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Could you also say Min søster hjelper henne på kjøkkenet, and does changing the word order affect the emphasis or formality?

Yes. Both word orders are correct and share the same basic meaning:

• Søsteren min hjelper henne på kjøkkenet.
• Min søster hjelper henne på kjøkkenet.

Difference in nuance:

• Fronting min søster puts slight emphasis on “my” or on which sister.
• Søsteren min is a more neutral, common colloquial pattern.

If you move a different element to the front (e.g. På kjøkkenet), remember the verb‐second rule:
På kjøkkenet hjelper søsteren min henne.
This shifts emphasis to the location (“in the kitchen”).