Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Området rundt skolen er trygt.

Common gender singular: no ending — Skolen er trygg. (“The school is safe.”)
Neuter singular: -t — Området er trygt. (“The area is safe.”)
Plural: -e — Skolene er trygge. (“The schools are safe.”) Predicative adjectives do not take the definite ending, even though the noun is definite (e.g., området).

What are the gender and basic forms of område and skole?

område is neuter: et område (a/one area), området (the area), områder (areas), områdene (the areas).
skole is common gender (often treated as masculine in Bokmål): en skole (a school), skolen (the school), skoler (schools), skolene (the schools). You generally memorize noun gender with the article (et/en).

What is rundt doing here?

Here rundt is a preposition meaning “around.” It introduces the prepositional phrase rundt skolen (“around the school”), which modifies området. Rough equivalents:

rundt skolen = around the school
Near-synonym: omkring skolen Avoid using om alone in this spatial sense (området om skolen is not idiomatic). You can say rundt omkring skolen to emphasize “all around.”

Could I say Skoleområdet er trygt instead?

Yes, but it’s a different nuance:

Området rundt skolen = the area surrounding the school (nearby streets, neighborhood).
Skoleområdet = the school grounds/campus (property belonging to the school). Pick the one that matches what you mean.

Can I move rundt skolen elsewhere in the sentence?

Området rundt skolen er trygt. (Most natural: the NP is “the area around the school.”)
Det er trygt rundt skolen. (“It is safe around the school.” General statement about that location.)
Området er trygt rundt skolen. (Grammatical, but implies “That area is safe in the part around the school,” as if contrasting with other parts. Less typical unless you need that contrast.)

How do I ask “Is the area around the school safe?” in Norwegian?

Er området rundt skolen trygt? Possible short answers:

Ja, det er (det). / Ja, det er trygt.
Nei, det er ikke (det). / Nei, det er ikke trygt.

Why is it skolen (definite) and not skole?

Because you’re talking about a specific, known school. In Norwegian, you typically mark that with the suffixed definite article: skolen. Use the indefinite if you mean “a/any school”:

Området rundt en skole er trygt. (“The area around a school is safe.”) With an adjective, you get “double definiteness”:
rundt den nye skolen (“around the new school”).

How do I say “It’s safe around the school” without naming the area?

Det er trygt rundt skolen. This uses dummy det (“it/there”) and describes the general situation at that location.

How do I say “safer” and “safest”?

Comparative: tryggere — Området er tryggere nå. (“The area is safer now.”)
Superlative: tryggest — Dette området er tryggest. (“This area is safest.”) Attributively with definiteness: det tryggeste området (“the safest area”).

Is trygt ever an adverb?

Yes. The neuter form of many adjectives is also used adverbially:

Han kom trygt hjem. (“He arrived safely home.”) In your sentence, though, trygt is an adjective agreeing with neuter området.

How would I make this plural?

“The areas around the school are safe.” → Områdene rundt skolen er trygge.
“The areas around the schools are safe.” → Områdene rundt skolene er trygge.

Can I use other words than rundt to mean “around/near”?

Yes, but with nuances:

ved skolen = by/at the school (very close, by the premises)
nær skolen = near the school
i nærheten av skolen = in the vicinity of the school
omkring skolen = around the school (near-synonym of rundt)

Pronunciation tips for the whole sentence?

Området: stress on first syllable, the final -et is typically pronounced like a schwa [ə], so roughly “OM-rå-de.” The vowel å is like the “aw” in “law” (but rounded).
rundt: the “d” is silent; roughly “runt” with a high, rounded “u” [ʉ].
skolen: “sk” is [sk] here (not “sh”); “sko-” has a long “SKOO-len.”
trygt: “y” is like German “ü” (short) [ʏ]; “gt” is pronounced [kt] in many accents: roughly “trykt” with that ü-sound. Tip: English doesn’t have the y vowel; round your lips as if saying “oo,” but try to say “i” at the same time.

Can I use sikker instead of trygg?

Usually no. trygg = safe/secure (about safety and feeling safe). sikker mainly means “certain/sure,” and “safe” only in specific contexts (e.g., sikkerhetskontroll = security check; sikret = secured). For a safe area, use trygg: et trygt område.

How does “double definiteness” show up with this noun phrase?

When a definite noun has an adjective before it, you mark definiteness twice:

det trygge området rundt skolen = “the safe area around the school” Pattern: definite article + adjective with -e + noun with suffixed article.

Are there dialect or Nynorsk differences I should know?

In Nynorsk, skolen is typically skulen; the sentence becomes Området rundt skulen er trygt.
In some dialects you may hear skola for skolen.
Pronunciation of final -t (as in området) varies by dialect; often it’s silent in Eastern Norwegian.