Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Barnet sier at pannekaken smaker skikkelig godt med søtt syltetøy. - The child says that the pancake tastes really good with sweet jam.

At introduces a subordinate clause (indirect speech) just like English that. Here the child says that…. You cannot use om in this context because om means if or about, not that. For reporting someone’s words or thoughts, Norwegian always uses at.

Why does the clause at pannekaken smaker skikkelig godt med søtt syltetøy have the verb smaker after the subject, instead of the usual “verb‐second” word order?

In main clauses Norwegian follows V2 (verb‐second). In subordinate clauses introduced by at, the finite verb moves to the end of the clause’s core (after subject, objects, adverbs, etc.). So you get
at + subject + (other elements) + verb
→ at pannekaken smaker skikkelig godt med søtt syltetøy
instead of mirroring the main‐clause pattern.

Why is Barnet (the child) used in its definite form here, rather than barn or et barn? What is the gender of barn?

The noun barn (child) is neuter. Its indefinite form is et barn (or just barn in speech), and its definite form is barnet. You use barnet when you refer to a specific child already known in context. That’s why the sentence starts with Barnet sier… (“The child says…”).

Why is it skikkelig godt and not skikkelig god?

When describing how something tastes (after the verb smaker), you need the adverbial form godt, not the adjective god. Here skikkelig (“really”) is an adverb intensifier, modifying the adverb godt. If you were describing a noun directly (e.g. “a good pancake”), you’d use the adjective god: en god pannekake.

Why is it søtt syltetøy instead of søt syltetøy or søtt syltetøyet?

Syltetøy (“jam”) is neuter, so an adjective in front of it in the indefinite form takes a -t ending: søtt. We omit the article because jam is usually uncountable (just like in English). If you wanted the definite version (“the sweet jam”), you’d say det søte syltetøyet.

What does med express in med søtt syltetøy? Could another preposition be used?

Med here means with—it shows what accompanies the pancake. In everyday Norwegian you say smaker godt med … to talk about what you eat or drink something together with. You might occasionally see smaker litt av jordbær (“tastes a bit of strawberry”), but to express “with jam” you use med syltetøy.

How would you turn this statement into a yes/no question (“Does the pancake taste really good with sweet jam?”)?

Invert the subject and verb in a main clause:
Smaker pannekaken skikkelig godt med søtt syltetøy?

Can you use smake transitively in Norwegian, like Jeg smaker pannekaken?

When you mean “I taste the pancake,” you say Jeg smaker på pannekaken—smake på noe is the transitive pattern. Without på, smake is used as a linking verb with an adjective: pannekaken smaker godt (“the pancake tastes good”).