Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme om en drømmejobb.

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Breakdown of Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme om en drømmejobb.

• være: to be
• en: a
• om: about
• å: to
• pleie: to tend
• da: when
• yngre: younger
• drømme: to dream
• drømmejobben: the dream job

Questions & Answers about Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme om en drømmejobb.

Why is it da and not når in Da jeg var yngre?

Norwegian distinguishes between da and når in the past:

• da = when referring to one specific time/period in the past

  • Da jeg var yngre = When I was younger (in that period of my life)

• når = when in general, repeated, or future situations

  • Når jeg er trøtt, legger jeg meg tidlig. = When I am tired, I go to bed early (whenever that happens).

Being younger is one long, specific period in the past, so da is correct:
Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme …

Why does the word order change to pleide jeg and not jeg pleide after the comma?

This is the V2 rule in Norwegian main clauses:

• The finite verb (here: pleide) must be in second position in the sentence.
• Anything placed at the beginning (like a time clause) counts as position 1, so the verb has to come next.

Structure of your sentence:

1. Da jeg var yngre – whole time clause in first position
2. pleide – finite verb in second position
3. jeg – subject
4. å drømme om en drømmejobb – rest of the sentence

So:

• Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme … ✅
• Da jeg var yngre, jeg pleide å drømme … ❌ (breaks V2)

What is the difference between pleide å drømme and just drømte?

Both are past tense, but the nuance differs:

• pleide å drømme ≈ used to dream

  • Focus on habit/repetition in the past.
  • Implies it was something you often did, but don’t (necessarily) do anymore.

• drømte = simple past dreamed/dreamt

  • Can be a single event or habit, context decides.

Examples:

• Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme om en drømmejobb.
  When I was younger, I used to dream of a dream job (regularly).

• I går natt drømte jeg om jobben.
  Last night I dreamt about the job (one time).

You could say:

• Da jeg var yngre, drømte jeg om en drømmejobb.

This is also correct, and often means the same thing here. Pleide å drømme just makes the “habitual” meaning more explicit.

What exactly does pleide mean, and how does it work with verbs?

Pleide is the past tense of å pleie (here in its auxiliary-like meaning):

• å pleie å + infinitive ≈ to usually / to tend to / to be in the habit of doing something
• pleide å + infinitive ≈ used to do something (in the past)

Forms:

• Present: Jeg pleier å drømme. – I usually dream / I tend to dream.
• Past: Jeg pleide å drømme. – I used to dream.

So in the sentence:

• pleide jeg å drømme = I used to dream (habit in the past).

Why is it å drømme and not og drømme?

In Norwegian:

• å before a verb = English to

  • verb
  • å drømme = to dream
  • å spise = to eat

• og = English and

  • Jeg liker kaffe og te. = I like coffee and tea.

Here you need the infinitive marker å because it’s the verb drømme in its infinitive form after pleide:

• pleide å drømme = used to dream

og drømme would mean and dream, which doesn’t fit the structure here.

Why is it yngre and not just ung? What’s going on with the adjective?

Ung = young.
Yngre = younger (comparative form).

The expression Da jeg var yngre literally means “When I was younger”, not just “when I was young”.

Adjective pattern:

• Positive: ung – young
• Comparative: yngre – younger
• Superlative: yngst – youngest

You could say:

• Da jeg var ung, drømte jeg om en drømmejobb. – When I was young…

This is also correct, but Da jeg var yngre is a very natural, idiomatic way to talk about an earlier stage in your life, often implying contrast with now (I’m older now).

Why is it drømme om and not just drømme or drømme på?

In Norwegian, the verb å drømme often uses the preposition om when you dream about something:

• å drømme om noe = to dream of/about something

Examples:

• Jeg drømmer om en bedre framtid.
  I dream of a better future.

• I natt drømte jeg om deg.
  Last night I dreamt about you.

You cannot use på in this meaning:

• drømme på noe ❌ (wrong in this sense)

You can sometimes use drømme without a preposition, but then it usually means “to dream (sleep)”, not “dream about something specific”:

• Jeg drømmer hver natt. – I dream every night. (no object)

What does en drømmejobb literally mean, and why is it formed like that?

En drømmejobb is a compound noun:

• drømme- (from drøm = dream) used as the first part of a compound
• jobb = job

So drømmejobb literally = dream job.

Norwegian often makes compounds with drømme- to mean “dream [something]”:

• drømmedame – dream woman / ideal woman
• drømmehus – dream house
• drømmeferie – dream vacation

The article en is the indefinite singular masculine article:

• en drømmejobb – a dream job
• drømmejobben – the dream job

In Bokmål, jobb is normally masculine, so en drømmejobb is the standard form.

Could I say drømmejobben min instead of en drømmejobb? What is the difference?

Yes, you can, but the meaning changes a bit:

• en drømmejobb – a dream job

  • Any job that fits your dreams. Very general and indefinite.

• drømmejobben min – my dream job

  • A specific job that is the dream job for you.

Examples:

• Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme om en drømmejobb.
  When I was younger, I used to dream of a dream job. (unspecified, idealized job)

• Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme om drømmejobben min.
  When I was younger, I used to dream about my dream job. (more like: that one specific job I imagined for myself)

Both are grammatically correct; the original sentence is just more general.

Why is there a comma after Da jeg var yngre?

Da jeg var yngre is a subordinate clause (a time clause). In Norwegian, it’s standard to:

• Put a comma before a subordinate clause when it comes after the main clause, and
• Also separate it with a comma when the subordinate clause comes first.

In your sentence:

• Subordinate clause: Da jeg var yngre
• Main clause: pleide jeg å drømme om en drømmejobb.

So you write:

• Da jeg var yngre, pleide jeg å drømme om en drømmejobb.

The comma marks the boundary between the subordinate and the main clause.

How do you pronounce drømme and jobb?

Approximate pronunciation (Bokmål, standard Eastern Norwegian):

• drømme: [DRØM-meh]

  • dr: like English dr in dream
  • ø: similar to the vowel in British English bird or French eu in peur
  • doubled mm: short, closed syllable
  • final -e: a short, unstressed “uh” sound

• jobb: [YOBB]

  • j: like English y in yes
  • o: like English o in long (but shorter)
  • double bb: pronounced as a short, strong b sound

Together in the phrase:

• å drømme om en drømmejobb ≈ aw DRØM-meh om en DRØM-meh-yobb (roughly)