Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Noen ganger skulle jeg ønske at ingen følte seg ensomme i dette nabolaget. - Sometimes I wish that no one felt lonely in this neighborhood.

In Norwegian, jeg skulle ønske (at) … is a fixed way to express an unreal or impossible wish, just like English I wish (that) … with a past tense:

Jeg skulle ønske at ingen følte seg ensomme …
≈ I wish nobody felt lonely …

Here skulle is the preterite of skal, but it does not mean past time. It softens the statement and marks it as hypothetical or contrary to reality.

Skal jeg ønske would sound like “shall I wish” or “am I going to wish” and is not used in this meaning.

What is the difference between jeg skulle ønske and jeg ønsker?

Jeg skulle ønske (at) …
= I wish (that)… about something that is not true / not the case now. It implies a frustrated or unreal wish.
Jeg ønsker (at) …
= I want / I wish (that)… in a more neutral, goal‑oriented sense, often about something you hope will happen in the future.

Compare:

Jeg skulle ønske at ingen følte seg ensomme.
→ They do feel lonely; I’m imagining a different reality.
Jeg ønsker at ingen skal føle seg ensomme.
→ More like a goal or intention: I want a situation where no one will feel lonely.

Why is the word order Noen ganger skulle jeg ønske and not Noen ganger jeg skulle ønske?

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position.

In this sentence:

Noen ganger = first element (adverbial, “sometimes”)
skulle = finite verb (must come second)
jeg = subject
ønske … = rest of the clause

So the correct order is:

Noen ganger (1) skulle (2) jeg (3) ønske …

Noen ganger jeg skulle ønske … breaks the V2 rule and sounds like direct English word order, so it is ungrammatical in standard Norwegian.

Why do we use at after ønske? Could we leave it out?

At here is a subordinating conjunction that introduces a content clause, similar to that in English:

… skulle jeg ønske at ingen følte seg ensomme …
= … I wish that nobody felt lonely …

After verbs of thinking, saying, wishing, etc. (si, tro, tenke, håpe, ønske), Norwegian normally uses at to start the clause.

In spoken and informal Norwegian, at is often dropped:

Noen ganger skulle jeg ønske ingen følte seg ensomme …

That is common and acceptable in casual speech, but in careful or written language, including at is safer and more standard.

Why is it ingen følte (past) and not ingen føler (present) if the wish is about now?

The past tense følte is used for the same reason as skulle: to mark the wish as unreal or contrary to fact.

Norwegian mirrors English here:

English: I wish nobody felt lonely. (past form felt, but about now)
Norwegian: Jeg skulle ønske at ingen følte seg ensomme. (past følte, but about now)

If you say:

Jeg ønsker at ingen føler seg ensomme.

then you are describing a more real, neutral wish about the present/future, not an impossible or contrary‑to‑fact situation.

Why do we say følte seg and not just følte?

Å føle seg is a reflexive verb meaning “to feel (in a certain state)”, especially with adjectives:

føle seg ensom = feel lonely
føle seg syk = feel ill
føle seg trygg = feel safe

Here seg is a reflexive pronoun referring back to the subject (ingen). Without seg, å føle is usually:

more physical: å føle kulde (to feel cold, as a thing)
or emotional but taking a noun: å føle glede (to feel joy)

So:

ingen følte seg ensomme = nobody felt themselves to be lonely.
Saying ingen følte ensomme is ungrammatical.

Why is it ensomme with -e and not ensom?

Adjectives in Norwegian agree with the noun (or pronoun) in number and definiteness.

Here the subject is ingen = no one / nobody. Grammatically, with people, ingen usually behaves like a plural for the adjective:

Ingen var glade. = Nobody was happy.
Ingen var klare. = Nobody was ready.

So we get:

Ingen følte seg ensomme.

This -e ending is the indefinite plural form of the adjective.

You may sometimes see ingen følte seg ensom, with the singular form, and some speakers accept it, but ensomme is very natural and common with ingen when you’re talking about “no people” in general.

What is the difference between ensom and alene?

They are related but not the same:

ensom = lonely (emotional state, negative)
alene = alone (physically by yourself; can be neutral or even positive)

Examples:

Han er ensom. = He is lonely.
Han er alene. = He is alone (maybe fine, maybe not lonely).
Hun liker å være alene, men hun er sjelden ensom.
= She likes being alone, but she is rarely lonely.

In your sentence, ensomme is about loneliness, not just being physically alone.

Why is it dette nabolaget and not denne nabolaget or dette nabolag?

Three things:

Gender:
Nabolag is a neuter noun. The correct demonstrative is dette, not denne.
- dette huset (neuter)
- denne byen (masculine/feminine)
Definite form:
With dette + noun, you normally use the definite form of the noun:
- dette nabolaget (this neighbourhood)
  not dette nabolag.
Preposition + place:
When you say i + specific place, you almost always use the definite form:
- i nabolaget = in the neighbourhood
- i byen = in the city
  Combined with dette, that gives i dette nabolaget.

Could we move noen ganger and say Jeg skulle noen ganger ønske at … instead?

Yes, you can move noen ganger, but the feel changes slightly:

Noen ganger skulle jeg ønske at …
→ Very natural. Emphasis on sometimes at the beginning.
Jeg skulle noen ganger ønske at …
→ Also grammatical, a bit more formal/literary in tone; the adverb is more in the middle.

Both obey the V2 rule:

First element: Jeg
Second element: skulle (finite verb)

Noen ganger jeg skulle ønske … is not allowed, because the verb must still be second, not third.

What exactly does ingen mean here, and how is it used in Norwegian?

Ingen is an indefinite pronoun meaning:

no one / nobody (when used alone, like in this sentence), or
no / not any before a noun (e.g. ingen venner = no friends)

In your sentence:

ingen = no one / nobody as the subject
ingen følte seg ensomme = nobody felt lonely

Related forms:

ingen – no one / no (for countable things)
ingenting – nothing
ikke noen – another way to say “no one / not any”, often slightly more emphatic or clearer in some contexts.

Example contrasts:

Ingen kom. = Nobody came.
Det kom ingen mennesker. = No people came.
Det kom ikke noen mennesker. = No people came / not any people came.

How does the reflexive seg work with ingen? Is seg singular or plural here?

The reflexive pronoun seg is used for 3rd person, both singular and plural. It does not change form for number:

singular: Han føler seg ensom. = He feels lonely.
plural: De føler seg ensomme. = They feel lonely.

With ingen, which means “nobody” but refers to people in general, you also use seg:

Ingen følte seg ensomme.

Here seg refers back to each (non‑existing) person individually, just like English themselves in “nobody felt like themselves”. Grammatically, you don’t need to choose between singular or plural form of seg – it is the same form in both cases.