Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Selskapet lover å sende varsel på e-post dersom de må kansellere flyturen. - The company promises to send a warning by email if they have to cancel the flight.

Selskapet means “the company.” In Norwegian, you form the definite singular of a neuter noun by adding –et to the end of the indefinite form:

Indefinite: selskap = “company”
Definite: selskapet = “the company”

How does the infinitive marker å work in this sentence?

The word å is the infinitive marker in Norwegian—equivalent to English “to.” You use it before most verbs to form the infinitive:

å sende = “to send”
å kansellere = “to cancel”
Exception: After modal verbs like må (“must/has to”), you drop the å and use the bare infinitive (see next question).

What does lover å sende translate to, and how do you parse it?

lover å sende means “promises to send.”

lover = “promises” (present tense of å love)
å sende = “to send”

Put together: “the company promises to send…”

What does varsel mean in this context?

varsel means “notice,” “notification,” or “warning.” Here it refers to a notification the company will send you. You could translate varsel as “a heads-up” or “an alert.”

Why is it på e-post instead of something like i e-post or med e-post?

In Norwegian, the idiomatic way to say “by e-mail” is på e-post. Alternatives exist—via e-post or per e-post—but på is most common in everyday language.

What does dersom mean, and how is it different from hvis?

dersom = “if,” used to introduce a condition. It’s slightly more formal or written than hvis, but in most cases they’re interchangeable:

dersom de må kansellere
hvis de må kansellere

Both mean “if they have to cancel…”, though hvis is more common in speech.

Why is the pronoun de used for selskapet? Isn’t that singular?

de normally means “they,” but Norwegian speakers often treat organizations, companies or teams as plural when referring to the people inside them. So even though selskapet is singular grammatically, you can use de to emphasize “the people at that company.” If you wanted strictly singular reference, you could say det (“it”), but de is very common.

Why is there no å between må and kansellere?

After a modal verb like må (“must/has to”), you use a bare infinitive—that is, the infinitive without å. So:

de må kansellere = “they have to cancel,” not “må å kansellere.”

What does flyturen mean, and how is that word formed?

flyturen = “the flight.” It’s a compound of:

flytur (“flight,” literally “fly trip”)
–en, the definite singular ending for masculine/feminine nouns

So flyturen = “that flight,” or “the flight.”