Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Pannekakerøren blir tykkere hvis du venter for lenge før du steker den. - The pancake batter becomes thicker if you wait too long before you fry it.

it would sound like the batter already is thicker in that situation, instead of focusing on the process of it thickening. The verb bli is the normal way to talk about something changing state in Norwegian (getting cold, getting dark, getting hungry, etc.).

What exactly does for lenge mean, and how is for used here?

In this context for means “too”, and lenge means “long (time)”.
So for lenge = “too long” (in terms of time).

You use for + adjective/adverb when something is too much of that quality:

for stor – too big
for dyr – too expensive
for fort – too fast
for lenge – too long (time)

So hvis du venter for lenge literally is “if you wait too long”.

Why is it tykkere and not mer tykk?

Tykkere is the comparative form of the adjective tykk (thick).

For most short adjectives, Norwegian forms the comparative by adding -ere:

tykk → tykkere (thick → thicker)
stor → større (big → bigger)
fin → finere (nice → nicer)

Mer tykk is technically understandable but sounds unnatural and is not standard. Use tykkere here.

So blir tykkere = “gets thicker”.

Why is the object pronoun den and not det in før du steker den?

The pronoun refers back to pannekakerøren, which has common gender.

en røre – røren (a batter – the batter) → common gender (en/den)
en pannekakerøre – pannekakerøren → still common gender

So you must use den (common gender), not det (neuter):

Jeg lager pannekakerøren. Så steker jeg den.
I make the pancake batter. Then I fry it.

Using det here would be grammatically wrong.

How is pannekakerøren built, and why is it one word?

Pannekakerøren is a compound noun, which Norwegians almost always write as one word:

pannekake – pancake
røre – batter / mixture
pannekakerøre – pancake batter
pannekakerøren – the pancake batter (definite form)

Norwegian likes to glue together related nouns like this:

sjokoladekake – chocolate cake
fiskesuppe – fish soup
pannekakerøre – pancake batter

Writing it as pannekake røre would look like two separate things, not a single concept.

Why is it før du steker den and not something like før å steke den?

In standard Norwegian, før is followed by a clause with a subject and a verb, not by å + infinitive:

før du steker den – before you fry it ✅
før å steke den – before to fry it ❌ (non-standard/wrong in writing)

So the pattern is:

før + [subject] + [conjugated verb]
e.g. før jeg drar, før vi spiser, før du steker den

Some dialects say things like før å …, but in correct written Bokmål you should avoid that.

Could you use når instead of hvis here? What’s the difference?

hvis usually means “if” (conditional)
når usually means “when / whenever”

Both are possible here, with a small nuance difference:

… hvis du venter for lenge …
→ if you wait too long (it may or may not happen; we’re talking about a condition)
… når du venter for lenge …
→ when/whenever you wait too long (it does happen; describing a regular situation)

In a recipe-style or general statement, hvis is slightly more common, but når wouldn’t be wrong; it just sounds a bit more like “every time that happens”.

Can you use om instead of hvis here?

Yes, in spoken and informal Norwegian, om often replaces hvis with almost the same meaning:

Pannekakerøren blir tykkere hvis du venter for lenge …
Pannekakerøren blir tykkere om du venter for lenge …

Both are acceptable, especially in speech. In careful written language, hvis is slightly more neutral/standard, while om can feel a bit more colloquial in this kind of conditional sentence.

How does the word order work in hvis du venter for lenge før du steker den?

You actually have two subordinate clauses:

hvis du venter for lenge – if you wait too long
før du steker den – before you fry it

In Norwegian subordinate clauses, the word order is typically:

[subordinator] + [subject] + [verb] + …

So:

hvis du venter for lenge
not hvis venter du …
før du steker den
not før steker du den

Putting them together:

hvis du venter for lenge før du steker den
If you wait too long before you fry it

The verbs venter and steker both come right after their subjects (du), because both are inside subordinate clauses.

What’s the difference between for lenge and just lenge here?

lenge = “for a long time” (neutral)
for lenge = “too long” (excessive)

Compare:

Hvis du venter lenge, blir pannekakerøren tykkere.
If you wait a long time, the batter gets thicker.
(Just describing what happens.)
Hvis du venter for lenge, blir pannekakerøren tykkere.
If you wait too long, the batter gets thicker.
(Implies that’s not good / more than you should.)

In the original sentence, for lenge suggests that you waited longer than is ideal.

Could you also say … hvis du venter for lenge med å steke den? Is there a difference?

Yes, that’s a very natural variant:

hvis du venter for lenge før du steker den
hvis du venter for lenge med å steke den

They mean almost the same. The nuance:

før du steker den – focuses on the time before the action happens
med å steke den – focuses slightly more on delaying that specific action

In practice, both are used to say “if you wait too long before frying it”, and they’re interchangeable here.

Is pannekakerøre treated as a countable thing or as a mass (like “batter”)?

Grammatically it’s countable, but semantically you often treat it like a mass.

Forms:

en pannekakerøre – a batch of pancake batter
pannekakerøren – the pancake batter / that batch of batter

In many contexts you’ll see the definite form used, like in the sentence:

Pannekakerøren blir tykkere …
→ The pancake batter gets thicker …

It’s similar to English, where you can say either “the batter” (mass) or “a batter” (less common, but possible if you mean “a batch”). In Norwegian the grammar is clearly countable (en/den), but in meaning it behaves like a single lump of stuff.