Breakdown of Etter middag går vi en tur i nabolaget.
Questions & Answers about Etter middag går vi en tur i nabolaget.
In Norwegian, some daily meals are often used without an article when you talk about them in a general, habitual way:
- middag – dinner
- frokost – breakfast
- lunsj – lunch
- kveldsmat – evening meal (in some dialects/areas)
So:
- Etter middag går vi en tur.
= After (our usual) dinner, we go for a walk. (general, habitual)
If you say:
- Etter middagen går vi en tur.
…it sounds more like you are talking about one specific dinner, already known in the context:
- After the dinner (for example, the Christmas dinner, the birthday dinner), we go for a walk.
Both are grammatically correct, but without the article is more neutral and everyday when you just mean “after dinner” in general.
Yes, you can:
- Etter at vi har spist middag, går vi en tur i nabolaget.
Both versions are correct, but there is a nuance:
- Etter middag = literally “after dinner”, short and idiomatic.
- Etter at vi har spist middag = “after we have eaten dinner”, more explicit and slightly longer/more formal.
Meaning-wise, they are almost the same here. In everyday speech, Norwegians often prefer Etter middag because it’s shorter and very natural.
Norwegian often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially for planned or regular events. The time expression (here: Etter middag) makes the time clear.
So:
- Etter middag går vi en tur i nabolaget.
= After dinner, we go for a walk in the neighborhood.
(Can be understood as a general habit, or a plan for today.)
If you really want to emphasize the future, you can say:
- Etter middag skal vi gå en tur i nabolaget.
= After dinner, we will go for a walk in the neighborhood.
But in many contexts the simple present (går) sounds more natural and is very common for future plans, just like English “We’re going for a walk after dinner.”
Norwegian follows the verb-second rule (V2 word order) in main clauses:
- One element comes first (here: the time expression Etter middag).
- Then the finite verb (here: går).
- Then the subject (here: vi).
So we get:
- Etter middag (time) går (verb) vi (subject) en tur i nabolaget (rest).
You cannot say:
- ❌ Etter middag vi går en tur …
That breaks the verb-second rule. Correct main clauses must have the verb in second position, no matter what comes first.
Yes, that is also correct:
- Vi går en tur i nabolaget etter middag.
Difference:
Etter middag går vi en tur i nabolaget.
→ Focus is slightly more on the time (“after dinner…”).Vi går en tur i nabolaget etter middag.
→ Focus starts with we and the action (“we go for a walk…”), and only then mentions when.
Both are natural. Norwegian is flexible about placing time expressions either at the beginning or later in the sentence, as long as the verb stays in second position.
Literally:
- går = walk / go (on foot)
- en tur = a trip, an outing
Together, gå en tur is a very common idiomatic expression meaning something like:
- to go for a walk, to go out for a bit, to go for a little trip
It’s more about a short, casual outing than a long journey. Often it implies walking, especially when no transport is mentioned.
Other similar expressions:
- Ta en tur = take a trip/outing (can be walking or by car, etc.)
- Gå seg en tur = go for a walk (similar, but with a reflexive flavor)
You can say it, but it sounds a bit incomplete or unusual in this context.
- Etter middag går vi i nabolaget.
could be understood as “After dinner we walk in the neighborhood” (maybe as a way of getting somewhere), but it’s not the most natural way to express “go for a walk”.
The phrase gå en tur is the common idiomatic way to say “go for a walk” or “go out for a little outing”. Without en tur, it loses that idiomatic feel.
So:
- Etter middag går vi en tur i nabolaget.
sounds much more natural and idiomatic.
The preposition i is used for being in/inside a place or area:
- i huset – in the house
- i byen – in the city
- i skogen – in the forest
- i nabolaget – in the neighborhood
The preposition på is often used for:
- surfaces: på bordet (on the table)
- some islands and areas: på Island, på fjellet
- many institutions/activities: på jobb, på skolen, på kino
With nabolag (neighborhood), the normal, idiomatic choice is i nabolaget.
nabolag = neighborhood
nabolaget = the neighborhood
In Norwegian, when we talk about someone’s own, known neighborhood, we normally use the definite form:
- i nabolaget = in the (our) neighborhood
(understood from context as “around where we live”)
Saying:
- i et nabolag = in a neighborhood (some neighborhood, not specific)
- i nabolag (without article) is generally not correct in this sense.
So i nabolaget is the natural way to say “in the neighborhood” when you mean your local area.
Yes:
- Etter middag går vi en tur i vårt nabolag.
This literally means “in our neighborhood” and is perfectly correct. It sounds a bit more explicit and maybe slightly more formal or emphatic than i nabolaget, which already strongly implies “our own neighborhood” from context.
In everyday speech, i nabolaget is usually enough.
Both refer to walking for pleasure or exercise, but there’s a nuance:
gå en tur
– very common, neutral, everyday
– “go for a walk / go out for a bit”gå en spasertur
– sounds a bit more old‑fashioned, literary, or “nice”
– closer to “take a stroll”
In this sentence, går vi en tur is the most natural everyday choice.
You mainly change the verb går to past tense gikk:
- Etter middag gikk vi en tur i nabolaget.
= After dinner, we went for a walk in the neighborhood.
Everything else can stay the same. The time expression Etter middag still works in the past; the verb tense shows that this is something that already happened.