Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Møtet forrige uke var kort.

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific, known meeting (the one last week), so Norwegian uses the definite form møtet, just like English uses the meeting.

What gender is møte, and how can I tell from møtet?

Møte is a neuter noun.

You can see that from its indefinite article and ending:

et møte (neuter singular, indefinite)
møtet (neuter singular, definite: the meeting)

Many neuter nouns form the definite with -et. However, some common-gender nouns (with en) also have -et in the definite, so you often need to learn the gender with the noun:

et hus – huset (neuter)
en tanke – tanken (common gender)

So the dictionary form will usually be shown as et møte to indicate neuter gender.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the before Møtet?

Norwegian usually does not use a separate word like English the in front of a noun. Instead, it uses a suffix article:

English: the meeting
Norwegian: møtet (literally meeting-the)

So we say:

Møtet forrige uke var kort.
not
Det møte forrige uke var kort. ✗

(You can say Det møtet forrige uke var kort., but there det is a demonstrative, like that meeting, not the basic article the.)

Where should forrige uke go in the sentence? Could I say Møtet var kort forrige uke?

Forrige uke is a time expression, and Norwegian word order is quite flexible with time expressions. These are all acceptable, with slightly different emphasis:

Møtet forrige uke var kort. (neutral, very common)
Møtet var kort forrige uke. (also fine; kort gets a bit more focus)
Forrige uke var møtet kort. (emphasises last week; more marked)

In ordinary speech, Møtet forrige uke var kort. is probably the most natural here.

Why is it just forrige uke and not i forrige uke?

Both forms exist, but they’re used slightly differently.

forrige uke = last week (as a noun phrase)
- Møtet forrige uke var kort. = The meeting last week was short.
i forrige uke = in the last week (full prepositional phrase)
- Vi hadde et møte i forrige uke. = We had a meeting last week.

In your sentence, forrige uke directly modifies møtet (which meeting? the one forrige uke), so no i is used.

If forrige uke stands more freely as a time adverbial, i forrige uke is very common:

Jeg var syk i forrige uke. = I was sick last week.

What’s the difference between forrige uke, siste uke, and i fjor?

forrige uke
- Literally the previous week
- Means last week (the week before this one).
- Very standard in Bokmål.
siste uke
- Also often used to mean last week.
- Can sometimes have a nuance of “the final week” in some contexts, but in everyday speech it often just means the most recent week.
i fjor
- Means last year.
- You cannot say i fjor uke. That is incorrect.
- Correct:
  - i fjor = last year
  - i fjor sommer = last summer

So for last week, stick to forrige uke or siste uke (most learners first learn forrige uke).

How does the adjective kort work here? Does it agree with møtet?

Yes, adjectives agree with the noun in Norwegian, but here the agreement is not very visible.

Basic adjective pattern in Bokmål (indefinite):

Masculine/feminine singular: kort
Neuter singular: kort
- t → kort (no visible change; it already ends in t)
Plural: korte

Examples:

En kort film. (a short film – masc/fem)
Et kort møte. (a short meeting – neuter)
Korte møter. (short meetings – plural)

In your sentence, the adjective is predicative (after the verb):

Møtet var kort.

Møtet is neuter singular, so grammatically it “wants” the neuter form, but that is also kort, so the spelling doesn’t change. Agreement is there, but invisible.

Can kort mean brief (in time), or only “short” in physical length?

Kort can mean both:

Physical length
- Et kort tau. = a short rope
Duration / time
- Møtet var kort. = The meeting was short / brief.
- Vi hadde en kort pause. = We had a short break.

So in your sentence, kort naturally means brief in time.

What’s the difference between var and varte when talking about a meeting?

var = was (describes a state or quality)
- Møtet forrige uke var kort.
  - Describes what the meeting was like: it was short/brief.
varte = lasted (focus on duration)
- Møtet forrige uke varte i bare ti minutter.
  - The meeting lasted only ten minutes.

So:

Use var when you describe the meeting’s character or quality.
Use varte when you talk about how long it lasted.

Why is forrige placed before uke? Could you say uke forrige?

Adjectives almost always come before the noun in Norwegian:

en stor bil = a big car
den røde boka = the red book
forrige uke = previous week

So uke forrige is wrong.

The pattern is:

forrige (adjective) + uke (noun) → forrige uke

Can I expand the sentence, for example: Det korte møtet forrige uke varte bare en time?

Yes, that’s a natural extension and shows two useful patterns:

Attributive adjective (before the noun):
- det korte møtet = the short meeting
  - det = definite article/demonstrative
  - korte = adjective in definite form
  - møtet = definite noun
Time expression:
- forrige uke = last week

So:

Det korte møtet forrige uke varte bare en time.
= The short meeting last week lasted only an hour.

Compare with your original:

Møtet forrige uke var kort.
= The meeting last week was short.

Same idea, but slightly different structure: one uses kort attributively (det korte møtet), the other predicatively (møtet … var kort).

How do you pronounce Møtet forrige uke var kort?

Approximate pronunciation in a standard Eastern Norwegian accent (IPA and rough English hints):

Møtet → [ˈmøːtə]
- ø: like the vowel in British bird, but with rounded lips
- stress on Mø-
forrige → [ˈfɔrɪə]
- r is tapped (a quick d-like sound)
- -ge is often a weak -yə sound
uke → [ˈʉːkə]
- u is a front rounded u, a bit like saying ee and oo at the same time
- long ʉː
var → [ʋɑːr]
- v often pronounced as a soft v/w ([ʋ])
- a like in British father
kort → [kɔʈ] or [kɔrt], depending on dialect
- o like in off
- rt often pronounced as a retroflex t ([ʈ]) in Eastern Norwegian

So the whole sentence might sound like:

[ˈmøːtə ˈfɔrɪə ˈʉːkə ʋɑːr kɔʈ]