Jeg våkner klokken syv.

I wake up at seven o'clock.

Breakdown of Jeg våkner klokken syv.

• jeg: I
• klokken: the clock
• våkne: to wake up
• syv: seven

Questions & Answers about Jeg våkner klokken syv.

What tense is våkner and how is it formed?

våkner is the present tense of våkne (“to wake up”). In Norwegian Bokmål, most verbs form the present by adding -r to the infinitive:
• våkne → våkner
• snakke → snakker
• lese → leser

Why don’t we use a preposition like på before klokken syv?

When telling time with klokken (“the clock”), Norwegian drops the preposition. You simply say klokken syv for “seven o’clock,” not på klokken syv.

Why is klokken in the definite form?

Talking about the time on “the clock” always uses the definite form klokken (klokke + -en). So the fixed phrase is klokken [tidspunkt], e.g. klokken tre, klokken tolv.

Can I say klokka syv instead of klokken syv?

Yes. klokka is the more informal or spoken form of klokken. Both mean “o’clock”:
• klokken syv (standard/written)
• klokka syv (colloquial/spoken)

Why does the time expression come after the verb rather than directly after the subject?

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in position two. Here the order is:
1) Subject (Jeg)
2) Verb (våkner)
3) Adverbial/time expression (klokken syv)

How do you ask “When do you wake up?” in Norwegian?

Use når (“when”) and invert the verb and subject:
Når våkner du?

Are there other verbs for “wake up” or “get up” in Norwegian?

Yes. Besides våkne (“to wake up”), you can use stå opp (“to get up”/“to rise”):
• Jeg våkner klokken syv. (I wake up at seven.)
• Jeg står opp klokka syv. (I get out of bed at seven.)

Is syv the only way to say “seven” in Norwegian?

No. You can also say sju. In Bokmål writing, syv is more common, whereas sju often appears in speech.

How do you pronounce Jeg våkner klokken syv?

A rough phonetic guide:
• Jeg [jæɪ̯]
• våkner [ˈvoːknər] (the å sounds like the “o” in English “more”)
• klokken [ˈklɔkən]
• syv [syːv]

Why is Jeg capitalized when it’s a pronoun?

Norwegian, like English, capitalizes the first word of a sentence. So Jeg is uppercase only at the beginning; elsewhere in a sentence it stays lowercase (jeg).