Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Han prøver å konsentrere seg på hjemmekontoret. - He tries to concentrate in the home office.

In Norwegian, you use the present tense form (prøver) when talking about something that is happening now or happens regularly, just like English tries or is trying. Norwegian does not have a separate continuous form, so Han prøver … can mean both He tries… and He is trying…, depending on context.

Why do we need å in prøver å konsentrere?

Å here is the infinitive marker, similar to to in English to concentrate.

Pattern:

Han prøver å konsentrere seg.
He is trying to concentrate.

Many Norwegian verbs that are followed by another verb in infinitive use å before that second verb:

Han liker å lese. – He likes to read.
Hun begynner å jobbe. – She starts to work.

So prøver å konsentrere = tries to concentrate.
Saying prøver konsentrere without å is ungrammatical in standard Norwegian.

Why do we say konsentrere seg and not just konsentrere?

Å konsentrere seg is a reflexive verb in Norwegian and means to concentrate (oneself), i.e. to focus your own attention.

å konsentrere seg = to concentrate
Han konsentrerer seg. = He is concentrating.

Without seg, å konsentrere normally needs an object and has a more literal sense to concentrate something, like a substance or resource:

å konsentrere saften – to concentrate the juice
å konsentrere styrkene – to concentrate the forces

So when you talk about mental focus, you must use the reflexive form konsentrere seg.

What exactly does seg mean in this sentence?

Seg is the reflexive pronoun for third person (he, she, they) and refers back to the subject han.

Han prøver å konsentrere seg.
Literally: He tries to concentrate himself.
Natural English: He is trying to concentrate.

Other reflexive pronouns:

jeg → meg (Jeg konsentrerer meg.)
du → deg (Du konsentrerer deg.)
han / hun / de → seg (Han konsentrerer seg. De konsentrerer seg.)
vi → oss (Vi konsentrerer oss.)
dere → dere (Dere konsentrerer dere.)

You cannot replace seg with ham or henne here; those are normal object pronouns, not reflexive.

Why is the preposition på used in på hjemmekontoret, and not i?

With many workplaces and institutions, Norwegian typically uses på:

på kontoret – at the office
på skolen – at school
på jobben – at work
på universitetet – at the university

A hjemmekontor (home office) is understood as a kind of office, so the same pattern is used:

på hjemmekontoret – in/at the home office

Using i hjemmekontoret would sound unusual; i focuses more on being physically inside a room, whereas på is the idiomatic choice for being at work / at the office.

Why is it hjemmekontoret (definite form) and not just hjemmekontor?

Hjemmekontor is the indefinite form (a home office / home office in general).
Hjemmekontoret is the definite form (the home office).

Here, we are talking about his specific, known home office (probably the room in his own home where he works), so the definite form hjemmekontoret is natural.

Compare:

Han sitter på kontor. – He works in an office (type of job, more general).
Han sitter på kontoret. – He is at the office (a specific office).

Similarly:

Han jobber på hjemmekontor. – He works from home (in general, home office arrangement).
Han prøver å konsentrere seg på hjemmekontoret. – He is trying to concentrate in his home office (a particular place).

What is the difference between på hjemmekontor and på hjemmekontoret?

på hjemmekontor
More general: working from home as a concept or arrangement, not necessarily focusing on a specific physical room.
Example: Jeg har vært på hjemmekontor siden mandag. – I have been working from home since Monday.
på hjemmekontoret
Refers to a particular home office, usually a specific room or work area.
In your sentence it suggests he is in that actual physical space.

So på hjemmekontor = working from home (general situation),
på hjemmekontoret = in the specific home office (location).

Can I change the word order to Han prøver å seg konsentrere?

No. The reflexive pronoun seg must come directly after the conjugated verb (konsentrerer) or, in infinitive constructions, right after the infinitive verb (konsentrere).

Correct patterns:

Han konsentrerer seg.
Han prøver å konsentrere seg.

Wrong:

Han prøver å seg konsentrere. ✗
Han seg prøver å konsentrere. ✗

Think of seg as attached to konsentrere; they form a unit: konsentrere seg.

Could we say Han prøver å konsentrere seg hjemme instead of på hjemmekontoret?

Yes, but it changes the nuance slightly.

Han prøver å konsentrere seg hjemme.
He is trying to concentrate at home (somewhere at home, not necessarily in a specific office room).
Han prøver å konsentrere seg på hjemmekontoret.
He is trying to concentrate in the home office (more specific, the place where he works at home).

Both are grammatically correct. The original sentence is more precise about the location and strongly suggests a work context.

Is prøver å the same as forsøker å in this sentence?

Yes, in this context they are near-synonyms:

Han prøver å konsentrere seg på hjemmekontoret.
Han forsøker å konsentrere seg på hjemmekontoret.

Both mean He is trying to concentrate in the home office.

Prøve is slightly more common in everyday speech; forsøke can sound a bit more formal, but the difference is small, and both are correct.

Does Han prøver å konsentrere seg mean He is trying to concentrate or He tries to concentrate?

It can mean both. Norwegian present tense covers both English simple present and present continuous:

He is trying to concentrate (right now)
He tries to concentrate (whenever he works from home, in general)

Context usually makes it clear whether the focus is on a current, ongoing action or a more general habit. The Norwegian form itself is the same: Han prøver å konsentrere seg.