Hjemmekontoret er lite, men det gir meg frihet til å jobbe når jeg vil.

The home office is small, but it gives me the freedom to work when I want.

Breakdown of Hjemmekontoret er lite, men det gir meg frihet til å jobbe når jeg vil.

• jeg: I
• være: to be
• liten: small
• til: to
• å: to
• jobbe: to work
• det: it
• men: but
• når: when
• meg: me
• gi: to give
• ville: want
• hjemmekontoret: the home office
• friheten: the freedom

Questions & Answers about Hjemmekontoret er lite, men det gir meg frihet til å jobbe når jeg vil.

What does the -et at the end of hjemmekontoret mean?

The -et ending marks the definite form of a neuter noun.

• et hjemmekontor = a home office (indefinite, neuter)
• hjemmekontoret = the home office (definite, neuter)

In Norwegian, the definite article (the) is usually added as an ending on the noun instead of being a separate word in front.

Is hjemmekontor a compound word, and what are its parts?

Yes, hjemmekontor is a compound noun:

• hjemme = at home
• kontor = office

Put together, hjemmekontor literally means home office. Compounding like this is very common in Norwegian (and other Scandinavian languages).

Why is it lite and not liten in Hjemmekontoret er lite?

The adjective liten (“small”) changes form depending on the gender and number of the noun:

• en liten leilighet (masc./fem. singular)
• ei lita stue (feminine, in varieties that use ei)
• et lite rom (neuter singular, attributive)
• rommet er lite (neuter singular, after the verb er)
• små rom (plural)

Because hjemmekontor is neuter (et hjemmekontor), the adjective in predicative position (after er) must also be neuter: Hjemmekontoret er lite (The home office is small).

Why is the pronoun det used for hjemmekontoret and not den?

Norwegian pronouns agree with the grammatical gender of the noun:

• den = it (for masculine and feminine nouns)
• det = it (for neuter nouns)

Since the noun is et hjemmekontor (neuter), the correct pronoun is det:

• Hjemmekontoret er lite, men det gir meg frihet ...
  (The home office is small, but it gives me freedom ...)

What does til å do in the phrase frihet til å jobbe?

The combination til å + infinitive is used after certain nouns to express “freedom/possibility/chance to do something.”

Here:

• frihet til å jobbe = freedom to work

Other common patterns:

• mulighet til å reise = opportunity to travel
• tid til å lese = time to read

til works like to/for, and å is the infinitive marker before the verb (å jobbe = to work).

Can I say frihet til å arbeide instead of frihet til å jobbe?

Yes, you can. Both are correct, but there is a nuance:

• å jobbe – more informal, everyday, very common in speech
• å arbeide – more formal/literary, also used in set expressions and more official contexts

In this sentence, å jobbe sounds very natural and conversational, but å arbeide would not be wrong.

What is the function of meg in det gir meg frihet, and can it be omitted?

meg is the object pronoun meaning “me”. The structure is:

• det = it (subject)
• gir = gives (verb)
• meg = me (indirect object)
• frihet = freedom (direct object)

So literally: “it gives me freedom.”

If you omit meg, you change the meaning:

• det gir frihet til å jobbe
  = it gives freedom to work (more general/impersonal: “it gives (people) freedom”)

So you can omit it, but then you are no longer saying specifically that you get that freedom.

Why is når used in når jeg vil, and not da?

Both når and da can translate to “when”, but they are used differently:

• når is used for

  • repeated actions (whenever)
  • present and future time
  • general conditions

• da is used for

  • one specific event in the past

In når jeg vil (when I want / whenever I want), we are talking about a general, ongoing possibility, not a single past event, so når is correct.

Why is there no verb after vil in når jeg vil?

In full form, it would be:

• når jeg vil jobbe = when I want to work

But Norwegian (like English) often drops the repeated verb when it’s clear from context. The verb jobbe is understood from the earlier phrase å jobbe, so it’s omitted:

• ... frihet til å jobbe når jeg vil (jobbe).

So vil here means “want to (work)”, with “work” understood and left out.

Can I move når jeg vil earlier in the sentence, and what happens to the word order?

Yes, you can move når jeg vil earlier, for example:

• Hjemmekontoret er lite, men når jeg vil gir det meg frihet til å jobbe.

Notice the word order after når jeg vil:

• gir det meg frihet ..., not det gir meg frihet ...

This is because of the V2 rule in Norwegian main clauses: the finite verb must come in second position. If you put når jeg vil first in that clause, the verb (gir) must come next, and the subject (det) follows it.

Is the comma before men necessary, and does it change the word order?

Yes, the comma is standard and correct:

• Hjemmekontoret er lite, men det gir meg frihet ...

Here, men (“but”) joins two main clauses:

1. Hjemmekontoret er lite
2. det gir meg frihet til å jobbe når jeg vil

You normally place a comma before men when it introduces a new main clause.

The comma itself does not change the word order. After men, the second clause starts with normal main-clause order: subject (det) + verb (gir), still respecting the V2 rule.