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Han er flink til å steke egg i en stekepanne med litt olje.

Han er flink til å steke egg i en stekepanne med litt olje.
He is good at frying eggs in a frying pan with a little oil.
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Questions & Answers about Han er flink til å steke egg i en stekepanne med litt olje.

What does the expression flink til å mean, and how is it used?
  • flink means skilled/competent (often a friendly, everyday compliment).
  • The pattern is: flink til å + infinitive = good at doing something.
    Examples:
    • Han er flink til å steke egg.
    • Hun er flink til å svømme.
  • Related patterns:
    • flink med + noun: good with something/someone (e.g., flink med barn).
    • flink i + school subject: good in a subject (e.g., flink i matematikk).
Can I say flink å steke or god på å steke?
  • Standard Bokmål: use flink til å and god til å with verbs.
  • flink å is common in speech in some regions, but it’s non‑standard in formal Bokmål.
  • god på å is not idiomatic. Use:
    • god til å + verb (e.g., god til å steke), or
    • god på + noun/area (e.g., god på IT, god på matlaging), or
    • god i + school subject (e.g., god i norsk).
What’s the difference between steke, koke, fritere, and lage?
  • steke: fry/roast with dry heat and some fat, in a pan or oven (e.g., steke egg, steke kjøtt).
  • koke: boil in water (e.g., koke egg, koke pasta).
  • fritere: deep-fry, fully submerged in hot oil (e.g., fritere poteter).
  • lage: make/prepare in general (e.g., lage mat, lage omelett).
    So here, steke egg = fry eggs; koke egg = boil eggs.
Why is egg used without an article?
  • It’s generic/indefinite plural: “fry eggs” in general.
  • Forms of egg (neuter):
    • one: et egg
    • the egg: egget
    • eggs: egg (same form as singular, context decides)
    • the eggs: eggene (colloquial Bokmål also allows egga)
      If you mean one egg, say steke et egg.
Why is it i en stekepanne and not på en stekepanne?
  • Use i for things happening inside a container-like object: i en stekepanne, i en gryte, i ovnen.
  • Use på for surfaces or platforms: på platen (on the stovetop), på grillen (on the grill).
    Saying på en stekepanne would sound like you’re on top of the pan rather than in it.
What gender is stekepanne, and what are its forms?
  • stekepanne is a compound of steke
    • panne. In Bokmål, panne is a feminine/common-gender noun often used with the masculine article.
  • Common forms:
    • indefinite singular: en stekepanne
    • definite singular: stekepannen (you may also see the feminine form stekepanna)
    • indefinite plural: stekepanner
    • definite plural: stekepannene
Can I just say i panna instead of i en stekepanne?

Yes. In everyday speech, panna often stands for stekepanna/stepannen when the context is cooking:

  • i panna = in the (frying) pan.
    You can also say i stekepanna or i stekepannen for “in the frying pan.”
Does med litt olje mean the same as i litt olje?
  • med litt olje = with a little oil (instrument/helper). This is the most neutral for pan-frying with a small amount of fat.
  • i litt olje = in a little oil (emphasizes the cooking medium). Also fine, but it can sound like the food sits in oil a bit more than just being greased.
  • i olje (without litt) often suggests deep-frying; with litt, that implication is weaker.
Is the order i en stekepanne med litt olje fixed? Could I say …med litt olje i en stekepanne?

Both are possible. Norwegian tends to place location before instrument/means here, so i en stekepanne med litt olje sounds very natural.
You can say …med litt olje i en stekepanne, especially if you want to highlight the oil first, but the first version is more common and flows better.

How do you conjugate steke?
  • infinitive: å steke
  • present: steker (Han steker egg.)
  • preterite (past): stekte (Han stekte egg.)
  • perfect (supine): har stekt (Han har stekt egg i dag.)
    Participle/adjective: stekt (e.g., stekt laks = fried/roasted salmon).
Is steike an acceptable spelling?
  • In Bokmål, steke is the standard form. steike exists as a dialectal/variant form and is standard in Nynorsk. You’ll hear steike in speech in parts of Norway. In formal Bokmål writing, prefer steke.
Any quick pronunciation tips for tricky words here?
  • å: like the vowel in English “saw” (but shorter).
  • flink: the “i” is short; final “nk” is pronounced together.
  • steke: roughly “STEH-keh” (the first e is like in “bed”).
  • egg: both g’s are pronounced; a short, crisp word.
  • olje: “OL-yeh” (the “lj” merges to a palatal sound).
  • stekepanne: “STEH-keh-pah-neh” (double n makes the preceding vowel short).