Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg synes livet er spennende.

jeg = I
synes = think / find / have the opinion (about something you experience or feel)
livet = the life (definite form of liv = life)
er = is (present tense of to be)
spennende = exciting / thrilling

So a very literal rendering would be: “I think the life is exciting.”
Natural English: “I think life is exciting.”

Why is it livet and not just liv if the English sentence is “I think life is exciting”?

In Norwegian, general statements about a whole category often use the definite form, where English uses no article:

Livet er kort. = Life is short.
Vinen er dyr i Norge. = Wine is expensive in Norway.

Here, liv is a neuter noun, and its definite singular is livet (the life).

So Jeg synes livet er spennende literally has “the life”, but this is the normal way to express the general concept “life” in Norwegian. Using liv without the article here would sound incomplete or ungrammatical.

What is the difference between synes and tror? When do I use which?

Both can translate as “think”, but they are used differently:

synes: your personal feeling or opinion, often based on direct experience.
- Jeg synes filmen er bra. = I think (in my opinion) the movie is good.
- Jeg synes du synger fint. = I think you sing nicely.
tror: a belief or assumption about something you don’t know for sure.
- Jeg tror han kommer i morgen. = I think (I believe) he’s coming tomorrow.
- Jeg tror det skal regne. = I think it’s going to rain.

In Jeg synes livet er spennende, you are giving your subjective opinion about life, so synes is the natural choice.

Could I say Jeg tror livet er spennende instead?

You can, and it is grammatically correct, but it changes the nuance:

Jeg synes livet er spennende.
→ In my opinion, life is exciting. (emphasis on personal evaluation or feeling)
Jeg tror livet er spennende.
→ I believe life is exciting. (sounds more like a belief, maybe without much direct experience)

In everyday speech, when talking about how you personally experience life, synes is clearly more natural. Tror would fit better if you’re speculating about something you haven’t really experienced yet.

Why is there no at (that) after synes? Can I say Jeg synes at livet er spennende?

Both forms are possible:

Jeg synes livet er spennende.
Jeg synes at livet er spennende.

at = that, introducing a subordinate clause, just like in English.

In everyday spoken Norwegian, at is often dropped when the clause is short and clear, especially after verbs like synes, tror, vet, håper:

Jeg tror du har rett. (I think you’re right.)
Jeg vet han kommer. (I know he’s coming.)

Including at can sound a bit more formal or careful, but it’s by no means wrong. In this particular sentence, most people would omit at.

Why is the word order livet er spennende and not er livet spennende after synes?

After synes, you are introducing a statement, not a yes/no question.

Livet er spennende. = Life is exciting. (normal statement order)
Er livet spennende? = Is life exciting? (question word order: verb before subject)

In Jeg synes livet er spennende, the clause livet er spennende is just a declarative clause embedded inside a bigger sentence:

Main clause: Jeg synes … (I think …)
Subordinate clause: livet er spennende (life is exciting)

So you keep normal statement order: subject (livet) + verb (er) + rest (spennende).

Why doesn’t spennende change form? Shouldn’t adjectives agree with gender and definiteness?

Most adjectives in Norwegian do change according to gender/number/definiteness:

en vakker dag
et vakkert hus
to vakre hus
det vakre huset

But adjectives that end in -ende (present participles like spennende, interessant, overraskende) are invariable in modern Bokmål. They keep the same form:

en spennende film
et spennende spill
ei spennende bok
de spennende bøkene
livet er spennende

So you never say spennendt or something like that; spennende stays as it is.

Is liv masculine or neuter, and how does that affect the sentence?

liv is a neuter noun in Norwegian:

indefinite singular: et liv (a life)
definite singular: livet (the life)
indefinite plural: liv (lives)
definite plural: livene (the lives)

In Jeg synes livet er spennende, the subject is the definite neuter singular: livet.

Here, the neuter gender doesn’t visibly change the adjective because spennende is invariable, as explained above. But it does matter for the article and the form of the noun (et liv → livet).

What is the difference between Jeg synes livet er spennende and Jeg liker livet?

They are close in meaning but not identical:

Jeg synes livet er spennende.
→ Focus on your evaluation/opinion: you experience life as exciting, interesting, eventful.
Jeg liker livet.
→ Focus on liking/enjoying life: you feel positive about it, you enjoy living.

You can also combine them:

Jeg liker livet, jeg synes det er spennende.
= I like life, I think it’s exciting.

So synes talks about how you judge or experience something; liker talks about liking it.

Can I omit jeg and just say Synes livet er spennende?

In standard Norwegian, you normally do not drop the subject pronoun jeg.

Jeg synes livet er spennende. ✔️
Synes livet er spennende. ❌ (feels incomplete in most contexts)

In very informal speech or text messages, people might sometimes drop jeg if it’s very clear from context, but it’s not considered standard grammar. As a learner, you should keep the jeg.

What’s the difference between Jeg synes det and Jeg synes det er spennende?

Jeg synes det.
→ Literally I think so / I think that. It’s vague – the content of your opinion is not stated; it refers back to something already mentioned.
Jeg synes det er spennende.
→ I think it is exciting. Here det er spennende states what you think.

In your sentence, Jeg synes livet er spennende, you don’t use det because the subject (livet) is explicitly mentioned:

Jeg synes det er spennende. (about something just mentioned)
Jeg synes livet er spennende. (life is named directly)

Both patterns are very common.

What is the difference between synes and syns?

They are just two spellings of the same word in Bokmål:

synes – more traditional / slightly more formal spelling
syns – shorter, very common in modern usage

Pronunciation is usually closer to /syns/ anyway. You can safely use either, but many people prefer synes in writing, especially in more formal texts. In speech, it sounds the same.

So you might see:

Jeg synes livet er spennende.
Jeg syns livet er spennende.

Both are correct.

How do you pronounce Jeg synes livet er spennende?

Exact pronunciation varies by dialect, but a common Eastern Norwegian approximation (IPA-ish) would be:

Jeg ≈ /jæi/ or /jæ/ (often shortened in fast speech)
synes ≈ /ˈsynəs/ or /syns/
livet ≈ /ˈliːvə/
er ≈ /ær/ or /eːr/ (often very short, almost /e/)
spennende ≈ /ˈspɛnənə/ (middle -de- is often reduced)

Putting it together roughly:
“jæi syns liːvə e spɛnənə”

Main stress: JEG and SPENNENDE carry more prominence:
JEG synes LIVET er SPENNENDE.

How would I say the same idea in the past tense?

To talk about a past opinion about a past situation, change both verbs to past:

Jeg syntes livet var spennende.
- syntes = past of synes
- var = past of er

This means: I thought life was exciting (at that time).

If your opinion is still true now, you’d usually keep it in the present, as in your original sentence:

Jeg synes livet er spennende. = I think life is exciting (now).