Vi reiser mindre i år.

We travel less this year.

Breakdown of Vi reiser mindre i år.

• vi: we
• reise: to travel
• mindre: less
• i år: this year

Questions & Answers about Vi reiser mindre i år.

What exactly does reiser mean here, and why not use drar?

Reiser is the present tense of å reise, which usually means to travel (often longer trips, holidays, business trips, etc.).

Å dra also means to go / to leave, but it’s more general and often about just going somewhere (home, to work, to a friend, etc.), not specifically traveling in the sense of trips.

• Vi reiser mindre i år.
  = We travel less this year. (fewer trips/holidays, less travelling in general)

• Vi drar mindre i år.
  This is understandable, but sounds less natural if you mean travel. It could be interpreted more as we go out/go places less this year.

For talking about travelling, reise is the normal verb.

Why is reiser in the simple present, when English uses “are traveling”?

Norwegian does not have a separate continuous/progressive form like English (am/is/are traveling).

The simple present in Norwegian covers both:

• English simple present:
  Vi reiser mye. = We travel a lot.

• English present continuous:
  Vi reiser mindre i år. = We are traveling less this year.

Context and time expressions (like i år = this year) tell you whether it’s a general fact, a current ongoing situation, or a planned future.

Can Vi reiser mindre i år also mean We will travel less this year (future)?