Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Posten legges i postkassen hver morgen. - The mail is placed in the mailbox every morning.

posten is the definite form of the noun post. In Norwegian you add the suffix -en (for masculine/feminine nouns) or -et (for neuter nouns) to make a noun definite. So post means “mail” in general or “a piece of mail,” while posten means “the mail.”

Why do we use the passive verb legges here instead of an active construction?

The sentence describes what happens to the mail rather than who does it. Norwegian often uses the passive (the so-called -s passive) to focus on the action or its result: Posten legges i postkassen (“The mail is put in the mailbox”). An active version would be Noen legger posten i postkassen (“Someone puts the mail in the mailbox”), but the passive is more natural when the agent (the postman) is obvious or unimportant.

How do you form the present passive (the -s passive) in Norwegian?

Take the present tense of the verb and add -s.
• Active: legger (puts)
• Passive: legges (is put)
This works for most verbs: leser → leses, skriver → skrives, etc.

If I wanted to mention the agent (the postman), how would I do that?

You can add av plus the agent:
“Posten legges i postkassen av postbudet hver morgen.”
Here av postbudet means “by the postman.”

Why is the preposition i used with postkassen? Could I say på postkassen?

i postkassen means “in the mailbox” (inside it). på postkassen would mean “on top of the mailbox,” which is not where you normally leave mail in Norway. Use i whenever something goes inside.

What’s the difference between hver morgen and om morgenen?

Both mean “every morning,” but:
• hver morgen is a more direct equivalent of “every morning.”
• om morgenen is a temporal phrase that literally means “in the mornings” and feels a bit more descriptive or habitual. You can use either:
– Hver morgen legges posten i postkassen.
– Om morgenen legges posten i postkassen.

Can I move hver morgen to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Norwegian allows fronting of time adverbials, but you must keep the verb second (V2) rule:
• Hver morgen legges posten i postkassen.
• You cannot say Hver morgen posten legges i postkassen because the verb must appear in the second position.

Could I use a different verb than legges, for example leveres?

Yes. leveres (“is delivered”) is also common for mail and packages:
• Posten leveres i postkassen hver morgen.
The nuance is slight: legges focuses on placing something, leveres focuses on the delivery action. Both are correct.