Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Vi snakker lenge i stuen. - We talk for a long time in the living room.

There is no separate ending like -s, -ing, or special we-form. The subject vi is already there, so snakker vi would mean “do we talk / are we talking?” only if you invert the word order to form a question:

Vi snakker lenge i stuen. – Statement
Snakker vi lenge i stuen? – Question

Why is lenge used here instead of lang?

Lang is an adjective (describes a noun), while lenge is an adverb (describes a verb or how something happens).

lang = long (adjective)
- en lang bok – a long book
- en lang dag – a long day
lenge = for a long time (adverb of time/duration)
- Vi venter lenge. – We wait for a long time.
- De snakker lenge. – They talk for a long time.

In Vi snakker lenge i stuen, lenge describes how long we talk, so you need the adverb form.

Could I say Vi snakker i stuen lenge instead? Does it change the meaning?

You can say Vi snakker i stuen lenge, and it is grammatically correct. The basic meaning is the same.

However, the most natural and neutral word order for this type of sentence is usually:

Subject – Verb – (Time) – (Place)

Here:

Vi – subject
snakker – verb
lenge – time (duration)
i stuen – place

So Vi snakker lenge i stuen follows the typical pattern and sounds very natural.
Vi snakker i stuen lenge can sound a bit more marked, as if you are emphasizing in the living room especially, but context and intonation decide the exact nuance.

Why is there no separate word for the in i stuen? Where is “the”?

Norwegian usually attaches the to the end of the noun as a suffix instead of using a separate word.

en stue – a living room (indefinite)
stuen – the living room (definite)

So i stuen literally is “in living-room-the”, which corresponds to in the living room in English.

Norwegian definite suffixes (Bokmål, masculine/feminine):

-en / -n: en stol → stolen (chair → the chair)
-a: ei bok → boka (book → the book)
-et / -t: et hus → huset (house → the house)

What is the difference between stue, stuen, and stua?

All three are forms of the same word stue (living room), but with different definiteness and style:

stue – base form, indefinite
- en stue – a living room
stuen – definite form (standard Bokmål)
- stuen – the living room
stua – also definite, more colloquial / spoken style, and common in many dialects
- stua – the living room

So you might see:

Vi sitter i stuen. – We sit in the living room. (standard written)
Vi sitter i stua. – Same meaning, more informal / dialectal feel.

In your sentence, stuen is just the standard definite form.

Why is the preposition i used in i stuen and not på?

i and på both often translate as in / on, but Norwegian uses them in fairly fixed combinations.

For rooms inside a house, i is the normal preposition in standard Bokmål:

i stuen – in the living room
i kjøkkenet / på kjøkkenet – in the kitchen (both heard, but på kjøkkenet is very common)
i gangen – in the hallway

With stue, the standard and safest choice is i stuen / i stua.

In some dialects, people say på stua, but if you’re learning standard Norwegian, use i stuen.

Can lenge also mean “too long”, like for lenge?

Alone, lenge just means for a long time and is neutral:

Vi snakker lenge. – We talk for a long time.

When you add for, it usually means too long:

Vi snakker for lenge. – We talk too long / for too long.
Jeg sov for lenge. – I slept too long.

So Vi snakker lenge i stuen is neutral. If you say Vi snakker for lenge i stuen, you are generally complaining or pointing out that the time is excessive.

How would I say this sentence in the past or future tense?

Base sentence (present tense):

Vi snakker lenge i stuen. – We talk / are talking for a long time in the living room.

Past tense:

Vi snakket lenge i stuen. – We talked for a long time in the living room.

Future with “skal” (planned/intended future):

Vi skal snakke lenge i stuen. – We are going to talk for a long time in the living room.

Norwegian does not use a separate continuous form like English “are talking”; the simple present plus a time expression covers both “talk” and “are talking”.

Could I say Vi prater lenge i stuen instead of Vi snakker lenge i stuen?

Yes. å prate also means to talk / to chat.

å snakke – to speak, to talk (neutral, very common)
å prate – to talk, to chat (often a bit more informal / conversational)

So:

Vi snakker lenge i stuen. – We talk for a long time in the living room.
Vi prater lenge i stuen. – Same basic meaning, maybe with a slight feeling of chatting rather than just speaking formally.

Both are correct in everyday Norwegian.

Can Norwegian drop the subject like Spanish or Italian, or do I always need vi?

In standard Norwegian, you must include the subject pronoun in normal sentences. Norwegian is not a “pro‑drop” language like Spanish or Italian.

So you say:

Vi snakker lenge i stuen. – Correct.
Snakker lenge i stuen. – Sounds incomplete or like a fragment; usually wrong as a full sentence.

The subject pronoun vi (we) is required in ordinary statements and questions.

Where would ikke go if I want to say “We do not talk for a long time in the living room”?

The normal position of ikke (not) is after the verb in main clauses.

Start:

Vi snakker lenge i stuen.

Add ikke right after snakker:

Vi snakker ikke lenge i stuen. – We do not talk for a long time in the living room.

The order is:

Vi (subject)
snakker (verb)
ikke (negation)
lenge (time)
i stuen (place)

How do you pronounce Vi snakker lenge i stuen? Are there any tricky sounds?

Approximate pronunciation (standard Eastern Norwegian):

Vi – /viː/ – like English vee
snakker – /ˈsnakːər/
- sn pronounced together, like sn in snow
- a like a in father
- kk is a short, strong k sound
- final er often sounds like a weak ə(r)
lenge – /ˈleŋə/
- e like e in bed
- ng (ng in lenge) is one sound, like ng in sing
- final e is a schwa-like sound ə
i – /i/ – like ee in see (short)
stuen – /ˈstʉːən/ (approx.)
- st as in stay
- u here is the Norwegian y/ʉ sound, lips rounded as for u, tongue as for i (a bit like French u in tu)
- often heard as two syllables stuu-en

Put together slowly:

Vi snakker lenge i stuen. → Vee snak-ker leng-eh ee stuu-en.

With normal speech, it flows more:

Vi snakker lenge i stuen.