Learn Hardcore Norwegian: I klassen snakker vi om høflighet og hvorfor det er viktig. - In class we talk about politeness and why it is important.

In Norwegian you normally need the definite form when you mean the class (a specific group of students), so you say i klassen = in the class.

klasse = class (indefinite, general)
klassen = the class (definite, a particular class you know about)

Since we are clearly talking about a specific class situation, Norwegian uses the definite form klassen.

i klasse can appear in fixed expressions like i første klasse (in first grade), but not in this meaning of in (the) class right now.

Could you also say på klassen instead of i klassen?

No, not in standard Norwegian for this meaning.

i is used for being in a room or in a group:
- i klassen – in the class
- i bilen – in the car
- i korpset – in the band
på is used for certain places and institutions, but not usually klasse:
- på skolen – at school
- på kurs – on a course
- på jobb – at work

So i klassen is the natural preposition–noun combination here.

Why does the sentence start with I klassen snakker vi… instead of Vi snakker…?

Both are correct; the difference is emphasis and information structure.

Vi snakker i klassen om høflighet…
Neutral, just saying what we do.
I klassen snakker vi om høflighet…
Puts extra focus on in class – as opposed to somewhere else (at home, on the internet, etc.).

Norwegian allows you to move many elements to the front of the sentence for emphasis, as long as you respect the verb‑second (V2) rule: the finite verb must come in second position.

So when I klassen comes first, the verb snakker has to come second, giving:

I klassen – first element
snakker – finite verb (2nd position)
vi om høflighet og hvorfor det er viktig – the rest

Is Vi snakker om høflighet i klassen also correct? Does it mean the same thing?

Yes, it is absolutely correct and very natural.

I klassen snakker vi om høflighet…
Focuses slightly more on where this happens (in class).
Vi snakker om høflighet i klassen…
A bit more neutral, focusing first on what we do (we talk).

The basic meaning is the same: in a classroom context, we talk about politeness and why it is important. The difference is just nuance, not grammar.

Why do we need om after snakker? Could we say just snakker høflighet?

With the meaning talk about politeness, you must use om:

å snakke om noe = to talk about something

So:

Vi snakker om høflighet. – We talk about politeness.

snakke without om usually means speak (a language) or talk (in general):

Hun snakker norsk. – She speaks Norwegian.
Vi snakker sammen. – We talk (to each other).

Vi snakker høflighet is not idiomatic; it sounds like you’re speaking politeness as if it were a language.

Can snakker mean both speak and are speaking, like English present simple and present continuous?

Yes. Norwegian only has one simple present tense here: snakker.

Depending on context, it can correspond to both:

Vi snakker om høflighet i klassen.
= We speak about politeness in class (regularly).
or
= We are talking about politeness in class (right now).

Norwegian usually relies on context or time expressions (like nå – now, ofte – often) to clarify whether it’s a habitual action or something happening right now.

Why is there no article in om høflighet? Why not om en høflighet or om høfligheten?

Høflighet is an abstract, uncountable concept (like politeness, honesty, love). When you talk about such concepts in general, Norwegian normally uses the bare singular form, without any article:

om høflighet – about politeness (in general)
om kjærlighet – about love
om frihet – about freedom

Using an article would change the meaning:

om høfligheten – about the politeness (a specific politeness that has been mentioned)
om en høflighet – about a (single) polite act (rare; sounds very specific and odd here)

So for the general concept, om høflighet is exactly right.

What grammatical gender is høflighet, and what is its definite form?

Høflighet is a feminine noun in form, but in practice it’s usually treated as masculine (which is common for abstract ‑het nouns).

Most learners just treat it as masculine:

Indefinite singular: høflighet
Definite singular: høfligheten (the politeness)

The word is formed from the adjective høflig (polite) + the suffix ‑het (similar to English ‑ness), so:

høflig → høflighet
polite → politeness

In om høflighet og hvorfor det er viktig, why isn’t om repeated before hvorfor?

It’s common (and natural) in Norwegian to let one preposition govern two things when the meaning is clear.

The structure is:

snakker vi om [høflighet] og [hvorfor det er viktig]

So om logically applies to both:

We talk about politeness
and (we talk) about why it is important

You can repeat om:

…om høflighet og om hvorfor det er viktig.

This is grammatically fine, but a bit more formal or emphatic. In everyday speech and writing, leaving out the second om is very normal.

What exactly does hvorfor det er viktig function as in this sentence?

Hvorfor det er viktig is a subordinate clause (an embedded “why”‑clause) functioning as a thing you talk about – like a noun phrase.

We can break the whole predicate part down like this:

snakker vi om – we talk about
høflighet – politeness (noun)
og – and
hvorfor det er viktig – why it is important (subordinate clause)

So hvorfor det er viktig is another object of snakker om – just like høflighet is.

Why is it det er viktig and not den er viktig?

Here det is a dummy (expletive) pronoun, not replacing a specific noun with gender. In sentences like:

Det er viktig. – It/that is important.
Det er kaldt. – It is cold.
Det er gøy. – It is fun.

det is the default neuter pronoun used for:

General statements (no concrete noun):
- Det er viktig å være høflig. – It is important to be polite.
Clauses or ideas as a whole:
- Å være høflig er viktig. → Det er viktig.

We are not referring back to høflighet as a noun (politeness is important), but rather to the idea being discussed: that (thing) is important. So Norwegian uses neuter det.

Why doesn’t viktig change its form to agree with det?

After the verb er (and other linking verbs), adjectives are in predicative position. In that position, they do not show gender agreement in Norwegian.

Compare:

Det er viktig. – It is important.
Boka er viktig. – The book is important.
Spørsmålet er viktig. – The question is important.

The adjective stays viktig in all of these, regardless of the noun’s gender.

Adjectives typically change form when they stand in front of a noun (attributive position):

et viktig spørsmål – a(n) important (neuter) question
en viktig bok – an important (masculine/feminine) book
viktige bøker – important books (plural)

In det er viktig, the adjective is predicative, so it keeps the base form viktig.

Could the sentence also be I klassen snakker vi om høflighet og om hvorfor det er viktig? Is that better or worse?

Yes, that version is grammatically correct:

I klassen snakker vi om høflighet og om hvorfor det er viktig.

The second om makes the parallel structure more explicit:

om høflighet
om hvorfor det er viktig

It can sound a bit more formal or careful. In neutral everyday language, many speakers would simply say the original version without repeating om. Neither is wrong; it’s a matter of style.

What is the difference between hvorfor and fordi in Norwegian?

They correspond to English why and because:

hvorfor – why (introduces a question or a “why”-clause)
- Hvorfor er høflighet viktig? – Why is politeness important?
- …hvorfor det er viktig. – why it is important.
fordi – because (gives a reason)
- Høflighet er viktig fordi det skaper respekt. – Politeness is important because it creates respect.

In your sentence, hvorfor det er viktig is a “why”-clause: we are talking about why politeness is important, not giving the actual reason.

How is høflighet pronounced, and is the g sounded?

In standard Eastern Norwegian, høflighet is approximately:

[HØF‑li‑het]

Details:

hø – like the vowel in English bird or hurt (but rounded lips),
flig – the g is not pronounced here; it’s essentially [fli],
het – similar to English hate but shorter.

So you can think of it roughly as “HØF‑li‑het” with a silent g.