Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Det å rydde søppel hver kveld gjør huset roligere. - Tidying trash every evening makes the house calmer.

In “Det å rydde søppel hver kveld …”, the “det” is a dummy pronoun that helps turn the action “å rydde søppel” (to clean up trash) into a subject of the sentence.

“Å rydde søppel hver kveld” = “to clean up trash every evening”
“Det å rydde søppel hver kveld” = “The act of cleaning up trash every evening”

So “det” here is similar to saying “the act of” in English. It “packages” the verb phrase so it can function more clearly as a noun-like subject.

You will also hear and see the version without “det”:

“Å rydde søppel hver kveld gjør huset roligere.”

Both are grammatically correct; with “det” feels a bit more explicit or formal, and is common in writing and careful speech.

Can I just say “Å rydde søppel hver kveld gjør huset roligere” without “det”?

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

“Å rydde søppel hver kveld gjør huset roligere.”

In many contexts this is actually the more natural version in everyday speech. The meaning is the same.

Subtle nuance:

With “det” (“Det å …”) – slightly more formal/emphatic, often in writing or when you want to highlight the whole action as a concept.
Without “det” (“Å …”) – completely normal, often more neutral/natural in spoken Norwegian.

Why do we use “å rydde” (an infinitive) instead of a noun like “rydding”?

Norwegian commonly uses the infinitive with “å” to talk about actions in a general way, especially as the subject of a sentence.

“Å rydde søppel hver kveld gjør huset roligere.”
= The activity of cleaning up trash every evening makes the house calmer.

You could also use a noun form:

“Rydding av søppel hver kveld gjør huset roligere.”

This is grammatical, but:

“Rydding av søppel …” sounds more formal, bureaucratic, or written.
“Å rydde søppel …” is more natural in normal speech and most writing.

What exactly does “rydde søppel” mean? Do I need “opp”, like “rydde opp søppel”?

“Rydde” means “to tidy up / to clean up (by putting things in order, throwing away trash, etc.).”

“rydde søppel” = “clean up trash” / “clear away trash”

About “opp”:

“rydde opp” is a common phrasal verb meaning “clean up / tidy up” (in general).
With a direct object, you’ll also hear:
- “rydde opp i huset” – clean up (in) the house
- “rydde opp etter barna” – clean up after the kids

“Rydde søppel” (without “opp”) is still correct and clear. Adding “opp” would not be wrong, but you would typically say:

“rydde opp søppelet” or “rydde opp i søppelet”, depending on nuance.

In your sentence, “rydde søppel” is simple and natural Norwegian.

Why is there no article before “søppel”? Could I say “søppelet”?

“Søppel” is usually treated as an uncountable (mass) noun, like “trash” or “rubbish” in English:

“søppel” = trash in general
So “rydde søppel” = clean up (some) trash

You can say “søppelet” (the trash), but that refers to specific, known trash:

“rydde søppelet hver kveld”
= clean up the trash every evening (for example, the trash you know is always on the floor)

Both are grammatically fine.

“rydde søppel” – general, habitual activity (cleaning up trash as a type of action)
“rydde søppelet” – refers to specific, definite trash.

What does “gjør” mean here? I thought it meant “do”, but here it seems different.

“Gjør” is the present tense of “å gjøre”, which indeed usually means “to do”.
But in Norwegian, like in English, “gjøre” can also mean “make / cause” in certain structures:

“Det gjør meg glad.” = It makes me happy.
“Kaffen gjør meg våken.” = Coffee makes me awake.

So in:

“Det å rydde søppel hver kveld gjør huset roligere.”

“gjør” = “makes” / “causes”
→ Cleaning up trash every evening makes the house calmer.

What does “roligere” mean, and what form is it?

“Roligere” is the comparative form of the adjective “rolig”.

rolig = calm, quiet
roligere = calmer, more calm / quieter, more quiet

So:

“huset er rolig” = the house is calm/quiet
“huset er roligere” = the house is calmer/quieter (than before / than something else)

In your sentence, “roligere” describes the resulting state of the house after this habit of cleaning up.

Why is it “gjør huset roligere” and not something like “gjør at huset blir roligere”?

Both structures are possible:

“gjør huset roligere”
- Very direct: X makes Y Z
- Pattern: subject
  - gjøre
    - object
      - adjective
- Here: [Det å rydde …] gjør [huset] [roligere].
“gjør at huset blir roligere”
- Slightly more explicit: X causes that Y becomes Z
- More wordy, often used when you want to emphasize the process (“becomes”).

Your original sentence uses the cleaner, more compact pattern, which is very natural in Norwegian:

“Det å rydde søppel hver kveld gjør huset roligere.”
= The act of cleaning up trash every evening makes the house calmer.

Why is it “huset” (the definite form) and not just “hus”?

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually added as a suffix:

et hus = a house
huset = the house

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific house (probably your house, or the one already known from context), so the definite form is used:

“gjør huset roligere” = makes the house calmer

If you said “gjør et hus roligere” it would mean “makes a house calmer” in a very general, abstract way (any house), which is less natural here.