Jeg sovner lett på den myke sofaen.

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Breakdown of Jeg sovner lett på den myke sofaen.

• på: on
• den: the
• myk: soft

Questions & Answers about Jeg sovner lett på den myke sofaen.

Why do we use sovner and not sover in this sentence?

Norwegian makes a clear distinction between:

• å sovne = to fall asleep (the moment/process of starting to sleep)
• å sove = to sleep / to be asleep (the state of sleeping)

In Jeg sovner lett på den myke sofaen, the idea is “I fall asleep easily” (the process is easy), not “I sleep easily”.

Compare:

• Jeg sovner lett på den myke sofaen.
  = I (tend to) fall asleep easily on the soft sofa.

• Jeg sover lett på den myke sofaen.
  This would sound odd or unclear; literally “I sleep easily on the soft sofa”, which isn’t how Norwegians normally express this idea.

So sovner (present tense of å sovne) is the natural choice here.

What exactly does lett mean here, and what kind of word is it?

Lett is an adjective that means easy or light. In this sentence it is used adverbially, so it means “easily”:

• Jeg sovner lett = I fall asleep easily.

In Norwegian, many adverbs are formed from adjectives by using the neuter form of the adjective, often ending in -t:

• rask (quick) → raskt (quickly)
• god (good) → godt (well)

For lett, the base form and the neuter/adverbial form happen to look the same (lett), so the form doesn’t change, but the function does: in this sentence it modifies the verb (sovner) and therefore behaves like an adverb.

You could also say:

• Jeg sovner veldig lett på den myke sofaen.
  = I fall asleep very easily on the soft sofa.