Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Vi stemmer om hvilken film vi skal se, slik man gjør i et lite demokrati hjemme. - We vote on which movie we shall watch, just like you do in a small democracy at home.

stemme om noe = to vote about/on something (the issue/topic)
- Vi stemmer om hvilken film vi skal se.
  → We are voting about which movie we’re going to watch.
stemme på noen/noe = to vote for someone/something (the candidate/option)
- Jeg stemmer på den filmen.
  → I vote for that movie.

So stemmer om introduces the question or matter being decided, while stemmer på indicates the choice you pick.

Why is it hvilken film and not hva film or hva slags film?

Norwegian distinguishes several ways of saying which/what:

hvilken + noun = which + noun (choosing from a known or limited set)
- hvilken film = which film (from the options we have)
hva slags + noun = what kind of + noun (type or category, not among concrete options)
- hva slags film liker du? = what kind of movies do you like?
hva alone = what (not used directly before a noun like hva film in standard Norwegian)

Here they are choosing between specific film options, so hvilken film (which movie) is correct.

Why is the word order hvilken film vi skal se and not hvilken film skal vi se?

Hvilken film skal vi se? is a question (main clause), so Norwegian uses V2 word order: the verb skal comes in second position.
In your sentence, hvilken film vi skal se is not a direct question. It’s a subordinate clause inside the larger sentence:
- Vi stemmer om [hvilken film vi skal se].

In subordinate clauses, Norwegian does not use V2; the subject typically comes before the verb:

… hvilken film vi skal se
… which film we shall watch

So:

Main question: Hvilken film skal vi se?
Embedded clause: Vi stemmer om hvilken film vi skal se.

What exactly does skal express in vi skal se? Is this future tense?

Yes, skal here expresses a future arrangement or plan:

vi skal se ≈ we are going to watch / we will watch (as a plan)

In Norwegian, there isn’t a separate future tense form like in some languages. Instead, you typically use:

skal + infinitive for planned/decided future actions
kommer til å + infinitive for more neutral or predicted future

So hvilken film vi skal se = which movie we are going to watch (a decision they’re about to make by voting).

What does slik mean in slik man gjør i et lite demokrati hjemme?

Slik here means “the way that / as / like” and introduces a comparison of manner:

… slik man gjør i et lite demokrati hjemme.
= … the way (that) one does in a little democracy at home.

You could roughly paraphrase:

… akkurat som man gjør … = exactly as one does …
… sånn som man gjør … = like you do …

So slik links the first part of the sentence to a typical way of doing things.

Why does the sentence use man instead of vi in slik man gjør?

Man is an impersonal pronoun that means “one / people / you (in general)”. It’s used for general statements, not about a specific person or group:

Slik man gjør i et lite demokrati hjemme.
= The way you/people/one do in a little democracy at home.

If you said slik vi gjør, it would mean:

the way we do (it), specifically in our family/group.

By using man, the sentence sounds more general, almost like it’s describing a universal habit in households.

What does et lite demokrati literally mean, and why is it lite and not liten?

demokrati is a neuter noun in Norwegian: et demokrati (a democracy).
The adjective liten (small) has different forms depending on gender and number:
- en liten bil (m./f. singular) – a small car
- ei lita bok (f. singular, in Bokmål) – a small book
- et lite demokrati (neuter singular) – a small democracy
- små demokratier (plural) – small democracies

So et lite demokrati is just adjective agreement: lite is the neuter singular form of liten.

Why is there a comma before slik?

The comma marks the beginning of an adverbial clause introduced by slik:

Main clause: Vi stemmer om hvilken film vi skal se
Clause of manner: slik man gjør i et lite demokrati hjemme

Norwegian typically uses commas before many subordinate clauses (introduced by at, fordi, når, hvis, selv om, som, slik, etc.), more consistently than English. So the comma is there because slik man gjør … is a separate clause describing how they do it.

Why is it demokrati hjemme and not demokrati i hjemmet or demokrati hjemme hos oss?

All of these are possible, but they’re slightly different in style and nuance:

hjemme = at home (adverb, informal, very common)
- i et lite demokrati hjemme = in a little democracy at home (general, light, conversational)
i hjemmet = in the home (more formal/specific, often used in writing or about “the home” as a concept)
- Would sound more formal: i et lite demokrati i hjemmet
hjemme hos oss = at our home / at our place (explicitly “at our home”)
- i et lite demokrati hjemme hos oss = in a little democracy at our place

The original sentence uses hjemme to keep it casual and general, without specifying whose home.

What is the difference between hjem and hjemme, and why is hjemme used here?

hjem is usually used with movement: to home
- Jeg går hjem. = I’m going home.
hjemme is used for location: at home
- Jeg er hjemme. = I am at home.

In i et lite demokrati hjemme, we are talking about something happening at home, not going home, so hjemme (location) is correct.

Is hvilken agreeing with film in gender and number?

Yes. Hvilken behaves like an adjective and agrees with the noun:

hvilken film (en film – masculine)
hvilket hus (et hus – neuter)
hvilke bøker (plural)

Since film is masculine (or common gender) en film, the correct form is hvilken film.

Could the sentence also be Vi stemmer på hvilken film vi skal se?

This would sound odd or incorrect in standard Norwegian.

stemmer om noe = vote about something (the issue)
stemmer på noe/noen = vote for a specific choice/candidate

In Vi stemmer om hvilken film vi skal se, the part hvilken film vi skal se is the question/issue they’re voting about. That fits om, not på.

You could say:

Vi stemmer på den filmen. = We vote for that movie.
But when you introduce the question which film?, you use om.

What is the literal, word-for-word breakdown of the whole sentence?

Vi = we
stemmer = vote
om = about/on
hvilken = which
film = film/movie
vi = we
skal = shall / are going to
se = see/watch
, = comma
slik = in such a way / as / like
man = one / people / you (general)
gjør = do(es)
i = in
et = a (neuter)
lite = small (neuter form)
demokrati = democracy
hjemme = at home

So literally:

Vi stemmer om hvilken film vi skal se, slik man gjør i et lite demokrati hjemme.
→ We vote about which film we shall watch, as one does in a little democracy at home.