Jeg rydder kjelleren en gang i året.

I tidy the basement once a year.

Breakdown of Jeg rydder kjelleren en gang i året.

• jeg: I
• rydde: to tidy
• kjelleren: the basement
• en gang i året: once a year

Questions & Answers about Jeg rydder kjelleren en gang i året.

Why is the verb rydder in the present tense here instead of a past or perfect tense?

In Norwegian the present tense (presens) covers not only actions happening right now but also habitual or recurring actions. Since “Jeg rydder kjelleren en gang i året” describes something you regularly do, you use rydder (present). If you used a perfect tense like “har ryddet,” it would mean “I have tidied the basement once this year,” which changes the nuance from a habit to a completed event.

Why does kjelleren have an –en suffix and no separate word for “the”?

Norwegian marks the definite form by appending a suffix to the noun. You have kjeller (a basement, indefinite) and kjelleren (the basement, definite). There is no separate article “the” as in English; it’s built into the noun ending.

What is the direct object in the sentence, and why isn’t there a preposition before kjelleren?

The verb rydde is transitive, so it takes a direct object without a preposition. Here, kjelleren is the direct object—you tidy the basement itself. If you wanted to express “tidy inside the basement,” you’d use a preposition: rydde i kjelleren.

What does en gang i året literally mean, and why is it translated as “once a year”?

Literally, en gang i året breaks down as “one time in the year.” Idiomatically, this corresponds to “once a year” in English. The construction of counting gang (“time/occasion”) plus a time frame is very common in Norwegian.

Why is the preposition i used before året? Could I use om or per instead?

i året (“in the year”) is one standard way to express frequency. You can also say om året or per år, and they all mean “in/each year.” Usage varies a bit by region and formality, but they’re all understood.

What other ways are there in Norwegian to say “once a year”?

Besides en gang i året, you can say: • en gang om året
• en gang per år
• årlig (an adverb meaning “annually,” more formal or written style)

Where should time expressions like en gang i året be placed in a Norwegian sentence?

The typical word order is: Subject – Verb – Object – Time – Place – Manner. In our sentence, en gang i året is a time adverbial and correctly follows the object kjelleren.

How would you express “twice a year” or “three times a year” in Norwegian?

You switch gang to its plural ganger and change the numeral: • to ganger i året (twice a year)
• tre ganger i året (three times a year)
…and so on.

Can I use årlig instead of en gang i året, and is there any difference?

Yes. årlig means “annually” or “yearly” and is perfectly correct. It’s a bit more formal or typical in writing. en gang i året is more conversational.

What’s the difference between rydde kjelleren and rydde i kjelleren?

• rydde kjelleren treats “the basement” as the direct object—you clear out or organize the basement as a whole.
• rydde i kjelleren uses a preposition (i), meaning “tidy up inside the basement” (emphasizing location rather than the basement as an object).