Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Stadig flere i nabolaget skriver dagbok på norsk, og vi hjelper hverandre. - More and more people in the neighborhood write a diary in Norwegian, and we help each other.

In this sentence, the full idea is stadig flere (folk / personer / mennesker) – “more and more (people)”. Norwegian often drops a noun when it’s obvious from context, just like English can say:

“More and more are doing it.” (without saying “people”)

So:

Stadig flere i nabolaget skriver dagbok på norsk
≈ “More and more (people) in the neighborhood are keeping a diary in Norwegian.”

Is stadig flere the same as flere og flere?

Yes, in practice they mean the same:

stadig flere = “more and more”
flere og flere = literally “more and more”

Both are common and natural.
Examples:

Stadig flere lærer norsk.
Flere og flere lærer norsk.

Both: “More and more people are learning Norwegian.”

Stadig flere sounds a tiny bit more formal or written, but both are fine in everyday language.

What is the role of i nabolaget, and why is it nabolaget and not nabolag?

i nabolaget means “in the neighborhood”.

nabolag = “neighborhood” (indefinite form)
nabolaget = “the neighborhood” (definite form, with -et as a suffix)

Norwegian usually marks definiteness with a suffix instead of a separate word:

et nabolag = a neighborhood
nabolaget = the neighborhood

The preposition i here simply means “in”:

i huset – in the house
i byen – in the city
i nabolaget – in the neighborhood

So i nabolaget is literally “in the-neighborhood” → “in the neighborhood.”

Could we say stadig flere naboer instead of stadig flere i nabolaget? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say stadig flere naboer:

Stadig flere naboer skriver dagbok på norsk.

This focuses more on neighbors as people.

The original stadig flere i nabolaget focuses slightly more on the local area (“in the neighborhood”) and the people living there. Both are correct; it’s mostly a nuance of focus:

stadig flere naboer – “more and more neighbors (as individuals)”
stadig flere i nabolaget – “more and more people in the neighborhood (as a group in that area)”

Why is it skriver dagbok and not something like skriver en dagbok or skriver i dagboka?

Skrive dagbok is a fixed expression meaning “to keep a diary”.

å skrive dagbok = to keep a diary / to write in a diary (as a regular activity)

In English you usually say keep a diary, not “write a diary”, but Norwegian uses skrive.

You could say:

skriver i dagboka si – “writes in his/her diary”

but that refers more to writing in a specific diary at that moment, not to the general habit.

So:

Mange skriver dagbok. – “Many people keep a diary.” (habit, activity)

Why is dagbok singular and indefinite here? Why not a plural like dagbøker?

Norwegian often uses a singular, indefinite noun to describe an activity:

skrive dagbok – keep a diary
spille fotball – play football/soccer
drikke kaffe – drink coffee
spise middag – have dinner

The focus is the activity, not counting concrete objects.

The forms of dagbok are:

en dagbok – a diary
dagboka / dagboken – the diary
dagbøker – diaries
dagbøkene – the diaries

In this sentence, we’re talking about the general activity “keeping a diary”, so dagbok (singular, indefinite) is the natural choice.

Why is it på norsk (“on Norwegian” literally) and not i norsk or something else?

When talking about the language you use, Norwegian almost always uses på:

på norsk – in Norwegian
på engelsk – in English
på spansk – in Spanish

So you say:

Jeg skriver dagbok på norsk. – I keep a diary in Norwegian.
Vi snakker på engelsk. – We speak in English.
Boken er på tysk. – The book is in German.

Using i norsk to mean “in Norwegian (language)” is not natural in this context; på is the standard preposition for “in [language]”.

Why is the verb skriver in the simple present? Could it also mean “are writing”?

Skriver is the present tense of å skrive (“to write”).

Norwegian uses the simple present for:

General truths / habits
- Jeg skriver dagbok. – I keep a diary.
Actions happening now
- Hva gjør du? – Jeg skriver. – What are you doing? – I’m writing.

There is no separate -ing form like English. Context decides whether it means:

“write / keep (as a habit)”
or
“are writing (right now)”

In this sentence, with stadig flere and i nabolaget, it clearly describes a growing habit or trend: “more and more people in the neighborhood keep a diary in Norwegian.”

Why is there a comma before og vi hjelper hverandre?

Norwegian normally puts a comma between two main clauses joined by og:

Stadig flere i nabolaget skriver dagbok på norsk,
(main clause 1: subject = “stadig flere i nabolaget”, verb = “skriver”)
og vi hjelper hverandre.
(main clause 2: subject = “vi”, verb = “hjelper”)

So you have:

[Clause 1], og [Clause 2].

In English, you can put a comma before and in this case (“…, and we help each other.”) but it’s more optional. In Norwegian, this comma is expected when both sides are full main clauses.

What exactly does hverandre mean, and how is it different from oss or seg?

Hverandre is a reciprocal pronoun. It means “each other / one another”.

vi hjelper hverandre – we help each other
de kjenner hverandre – they know each other

Compare:

oss – “us”
- Vi hjelper oss. – “We help us” (sounds odd; would normally be “we help ourselves” or “we help (some group including us)” and is rarely used this way)
seg – reflexive pronoun for han/hun/den/det/de in 3rd person
- De hjelper seg. – “They help themselves.” (not each other)

So:

Vi hjelper hverandre. – We help each other (reciprocal)
Vi hjelper oss selv. – We help ourselves (reflexive, focusing on our own benefit, not mutual help)

Do you ever need med after hjelper, like hjelper hverandre med?

Yes, you often use hjelpe (noen) med (noe) when you specify what you help with:

Vi hjelper hverandre med leksene.
– We help each other with the homework.
Han hjelper henne med å flytte.
– He is helping her move.

In the original sentence:

og vi hjelper hverandre.

No specific task is mentioned. It just says “we help each other” in a general way. Adding med would be unnecessary here unless you continued with more detail:

... og vi hjelper hverandre med grammatikk og ordforråd.
– “…and we help each other with grammar and vocabulary.”

Is the word order “Stadig flere i nabolaget skriver dagbok …” fixed, or can it be changed?

The given word order is natural and common:

Stadig flere i nabolaget skriver dagbok på norsk …

You can move i nabolaget a bit for emphasis without changing the core meaning:

I nabolaget skriver stadig flere dagbok på norsk.
(emphasis on “in the neighborhood”)

Both are correct. Norwegian word order is fairly flexible for adverbial phrases like i nabolaget, as long as:

The verb is in second position in main clauses (the V2 rule).
The sentence still sounds natural.

Examples:

Stadig flere skriver dagbok i nabolaget. – also possible, but now i nabolaget can be understood as where they are writing. The original more clearly groups “stadig flere” with “in the neighborhood”.