Breakdown of Jeg steker pannekaker til frokost.
jeg
I
frokosten
the breakfast
til
for
pannekaken
the pancake
steke
to fry
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Questions & Answers about Jeg steker pannekaker til frokost.
What does steker mean, and how do you conjugate steke?
steker is the present tense of the verb steke (to fry or cook in a pan). The full conjugation is:
- infinitive: steke
- present: steker
- preterite (past): stekte
- past participle: stekt
Unlike English, Norwegian does not have a separate present continuous (“I am frying”). You simply use the present tense for ongoing actions.
Why is it pannekaker in the plural? Can I use a singular or add an article?
pannekaker is the indefinite plural (“pancakes”) because you usually make more than one. If you only make one, you say en pannekake (“a pancake”). To talk about “the pancakes,” you’d use the definite plural pannekakene. In indefinite plural you do not use an article.
What does til frokost mean, and why do we use til?
til frokost literally means “for breakfast.” In Norwegian you use til to show which meal you’re preparing or eating (e.g. til middag, til lunsj, til kveldsmat). It’s the standard preposition in this context.
Could I move til frokost to the beginning of the sentence? How flexible is the word order?
Yes. Norwegian has a V2 (verb‐second) rule: the finite verb must be the second element. You can front the adverbial, for example:
Til frokost steker jeg pannekaker.
(“For breakfast I fry pancakes.”)
The verb steker remains in the second slot.
Do I always have to include jeg? Can I drop the subject like in Spanish?
No. Norwegian is not a pro‐drop language, so you normally include the subject pronoun jeg. Omitting it (Steker pannekaker til frokost) would be considered ungrammatical in standard Norwegian.