Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg vil levere søknaden rettidig. - I will submit the application on time.

In this sentence, Jeg vil levere søknaden rettidig, the most natural interpretation is I want / intend to submit the application on time.
Norwegian does not have a separate future tense like English. Instead, it mainly uses:
- skal for planned/obligatory future
  - Jeg skal levere søknaden rettidig – I’m going to / must submit the application on time
- vil for desire, intention, or prediction
  - Jeg vil levere søknaden rettidig – I want/intend to submit it on time

So vil here is closer to want to or intend to, not just a neutral future marker like English will often is.

Why is it vil levere and not vil å levere?

In Norwegian, modal verbs (like vil, skal, kan, må, bør) are followed directly by the infinitive without å.

So you say:

Jeg vil levere søknaden. ✅
Jeg vil å levere søknaden. ❌ (incorrect)

Other examples:

Jeg kan snakke norsk. (not kan å snakke)
Jeg må gjøre leksene. (not må å gjøre)

Use å with ordinary infinitives:

Jeg liker å levere søknader tidlig.
Det er viktig å levere søknaden rettidig.

What form is søknaden, and how is it different from søknad?

Søknad is the indefinite singular: an application.
Søknaden is the definite singular: the application.

Norwegian usually marks definiteness by adding an ending:

en søknad – an application
søknaden – the application

So Jeg vil levere søknaden rettidig means I want to submit the application (the specific one we both know about) on time, not just any application.

What gender is søknad, and how do you decline it?

Søknad is a masculine noun (though many speakers allow the common-gender pattern too). The standard masculine pattern is:

en søknad – an application (indefinite singular)
søknaden – the application (definite singular)
søknader – applications (indefinite plural)
søknadene – the applications (definite plural)

Examples:

Jeg har skrevet en søknad. – I have written an application.
Søknaden må leveres innen fristen. – The application must be submitted before the deadline.
Vi har fått mange søknader. – We have received many applications.
Alle søknadene ble vurdert. – All the applications were assessed.

Is rettidig a common word? Are there more natural ways to say this?

Rettidig is correct Norwegian, but it is formal and somewhat bureaucratic. You will see it in official or legal language, less in everyday speech.

More common alternatives are:

i tide – on time
- Jeg vil levere søknaden i tide.
innen fristen – before/by the deadline
- Jeg vil levere søknaden innen fristen.
i rett tid – at the right time (also a bit formal/literary)

So for everyday use, i tide or innen fristen would sound more natural than rettidig.

Why is rettidig placed at the end? Could I say Jeg vil rettidig levere søknaden?

In Norwegian, short adverbs of time/manner/frequency often come after the object, especially when they comment on the whole action:

Jeg vil levere søknaden rettidig. ✅
(rettidig describes how/when the whole action of levere søknaden happens.)

Jeg vil rettidig levere søknaden sounds unnatural and overly marked; Norwegian speakers strongly prefer the version with rettidig at the end here.

General pattern:

Subject – finite verb – (modal) infinitive – object – adverb
- Jeg vil levere søknaden raskt.
- Vi skal betale regningen i morgen.

There is some flexibility with adverb placement, but the given sentence uses the most normal word order.

Where would ikke go in this sentence? And what about adverbs like alltid or aldri?

The rule of thumb: ikke (and many other adverbs) comes right after the finite verb (here: vil) in main clauses.

Jeg vil ikke levere søknaden rettidig. – I do not want to submit the application on time.

For other sentence adverbs like alltid (always) and aldri (never), same position:

Jeg vil alltid levere søknaden rettidig.
Jeg vil aldri levere søknaden rettidig.

Structure:

Jeg (subject)
vil (finite verb)
ikke / alltid / aldri (adverb)
levere (infinitive)
søknaden (object)
rettidig (adverb of manner/time at the end)

Can I leave out jeg and just say Vil levere søknaden rettidig?

Normally, no. In Norwegian, the subject pronoun is almost always required in statements.

Jeg vil levere søknaden rettidig. ✅
Vil levere søknaden rettidig. ❌ (sounds like a fragment, not a full sentence)

The main exception is imperatives (commands), where the subject is usually dropped:

Lever søknaden rettidig! – Submit the application on time!

But as a normal statement about yourself, you must keep jeg.

What is the difference between rettidig, i tide, and innen fristen?

All three relate to doing something early enough, but with slightly different focuses and style:

rettidig
- Formal, bureaucratic.
- Focus: done within the proper time frame or legally accepted time.
- Common in contracts, regulations, legal/official letters.
i tide
- Neutral, everyday expression.
- Direct equivalent of English on time / in time.
- Jeg vil levere søknaden i tide.
innen fristen
- Literally within the deadline.
- Emphasizes before the stated deadline, not late.
- Common in instructions, applications, school, etc.
- Søknaden må leveres innen fristen.

You could often replace rettidig with i tide or innen fristen, depending on whether you’re talking in everyday language or about a specific deadline.

How do you pronounce søknaden and rettidig?

Approximate pronunciation (Eastern Norwegian):

søknaden: /ˈsøːk.nɑ.dən/
- sø – like “sø” in “sør”, similar to the vowel in British English “sir” but with rounded lips.
- k – a normal k sound.
- na – na like “nah”.
- den – d is pronounced, e is a short, neutral vowel (schwa), n as in English.
rettidig: /rɛˈtiːdi/ (often pronounced something like “retti-di”)
- re – re as in “red” (but without the final d).
- tti – double t just means the vowel before is short; ti like “tee”.
- dig – in many dialects and in standard Bokmål, final -ig is pronounced a bit like -i.

So the whole sentence would be roughly:
/jæɡ vɪl ləˈveːrə ˈsøːknɑdən rɛˈtiːdi/ in a careful Eastern Norwegian pronunciation.