Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Minibanken er stengt i kveld.

So we use minibanken because we’re talking about a specific ATM that both speaker and listener know about (for example, the one nearby). Using just minibank without any article would be ungrammatical in this sentence.

What gender is minibank, and what are its main forms?

Minibank is a masculine noun.

The main forms are:

Indefinite singular: en minibank – an ATM
Definite singular: minibanken – the ATM
Indefinite plural: minibanker – ATMs
Definite plural: minibankene – the ATMs

In spoken language, some people might use common-gender articles a bit freely, but the dictionary form is masculine (en minibank).

Could you say Minibank er stengt i kveld without -en?

No, that would sound wrong or incomplete in Norwegian.

You need either:

a definite form: Minibanken er stengt i kveld. – The ATM is closed this evening.
or an article: En minibank er stengt i kveld. – An ATM is closed this evening. (strange unless you don’t care which one)

Bare singular count nouns (like minibank alone) usually can’t be used as subjects in this way in Norwegian.

Is stengt here an adjective or a verb form? What exactly is er stengt?

Stengt is the past participle of the verb å stenge (to close / to shut), used here as an adjective.

å stenge – to close
stengt – closed

Er stengt literally is “is closed”, describing a state, not an action happening right now. It’s like English The ATM is closed, not The ATM is closing.

So the sentence is about the resulting state: at that time this evening, the ATM will be in a closed state.

What is the difference between er stengt and har stengt?

er stengt = is closed (focus on the state)
har stengt = has closed / has shut (focus on the action)

Examples:

Minibanken er stengt.
The ATM is closed. (It’s not available to use right now.)
Butikken har stengt.
The shop has closed. (The closing action has taken place.)

You would normally say:

Minibanken er stengt i kveld. (state)
Not:
Minibanken har stengt i kveld. (sounds odd unless you add more, like nå nettopp – just now)

Could you also say Minibanken er lukket i kveld?

You can, and it’s grammatically correct:

lukket also means closed.

However, in everyday language, stengt is more common for things like shops and ATMs:

Butikken er stengt. – The shop is closed.
Minibanken er stengt. – The ATM is closed.

Lukket sounds slightly more formal or more common in some fixed expressions (e.g. lukket dør – closed door), but stengt is the more natural choice here.

What does i kveld literally mean, and when do you use it?

I kveld literally means “in the evening”, but in practice it’s used like “this evening / tonight (early evening)”.

Common time expressions:

i dag – today
i ettermiddag – this afternoon
i kveld – this evening
i natt – tonight / during the night

So Minibanken er stengt i kveld is “The ATM is closed this evening.”, usually implying sometime after late afternoon but before night.

Can I say i dag kveld for “this evening”?

Normally, no. You usually just say:

i kveld = this evening

I dag kveld is not standard; speakers might still understand you, but it will sound foreign or incorrect.

For this morning / this afternoon / this evening, Norwegian uses:

i morges / i formiddag – this morning (context decides which)
i ettermiddag – this afternoon
i kveld – this evening

Could I move i kveld to the beginning: I kveld er minibanken stengt?

Yes, and that’s very natural:

Minibanken er stengt i kveld.
I kveld er minibanken stengt.

Both mean the same. The second one emphasizes “this evening” a bit more.

Norwegian main clauses follow a V2 word order rule: the finite verb (here: er) must be in second position. So when you move i kveld to the front, the verb still comes second:

I kveld (first element) er (verb, second) minibanken stengt.

Why is it i kveld and not på kveld?

With parts of the day, Norwegian almost always uses i, not på, when you mean “this [part of the day]” in a general time sense:

i dag – today
i morgen – tomorrow
i går – yesterday
i kveld – this evening
i natt – tonight / last night (depending on tense)

På is used in other time expressions, especially with days of the week:

på mandag – on Monday
på kvelden can mean “in the evenings” (habitually), but i kveld is “this evening” (specific).

What is the typical English translation of the whole sentence?

Most natural translations:

“The ATM is closed this evening.”
or
“The cash machine is closed tonight.”

Tonight here is interpreted as the evening period, not the deep night.

How do you pronounce Minibanken er stengt i kveld?

Approximate pronunciation in IPA (standard Eastern Norwegian):

Minibanken er stengt i kveld
/ˈmiːnɪˌbɑŋkən ær ˈstɛŋt i ˈkvɛl/

Key points:

mini-: like English “mee-nee”, with stress on MEE.
-banken: ban like English bunk with ng sound [ŋ]; -ken like ken.
stengt: steng with [ŋ] (like steng), final t clearly pronounced.
kveld: kv- pronounced together, e like in bed, ld as [l].

You can say it fairly smoothly as one rhythm group:
MEE-ni-bahn-ken air STENGT ee KVEL.

Is this talking about a present situation or a future one?

Formally the sentence is in the present tense, but time adverbials like i kveld often give it a future reading:

Minibanken er stengt nå. – The ATM is closed now. (present)
Minibanken er stengt i kveld. – The ATM is (going to be) closed this evening. (future interpretation)

Norwegian often uses the present tense + time expression instead of an explicit future form where English would say “will be closed” or “is going to be closed”.