Barna reagerer raskt når læreren roper navnet deres.

The children react quickly when the teacher calls their name.

Breakdown of Barna reagerer raskt når læreren roper navnet deres.

• barnet: the child
• når: when
• raskt: quickly
• læreren: the teacher
• rope: to call
• navnet: the name
• deres: their
• reagere: to react

Questions & Answers about Barna reagerer raskt når læreren roper navnet deres.

What does barna literally mean, and why does it end in -a?

Barna means the children.

The base noun is barn (child), which is a neuter noun with an irregular plural:

• et barn – a child (indefinite singular)
• barnet – the child (definite singular)
• barn – children (indefinite plural)
• barna – the children (definite plural)

So the -a here is the definite plural ending. English uses a separate word the; Norwegian usually attaches the article as a suffix.

Why is it reagerer and not reagere?

Reagere is the infinitive (to react).

Reagerer is the present tense (react / reacts / are reacting).

Norwegian present tense is the same for all persons:

• jeg reagerer – I react
• du reagerer – you react
• han/hun reagerer – he/she reacts
• vi reagerer – we react
• de reagerer – they react

So in Barna reagerer raskt, reagerer is simply the present-tense verb agreeing with barna (the children).

Why is it raskt and not rask?

Rask is the adjective (quick, fast) used with nouns:

• en rask bil – a fast car
• et raskt svar – a quick answer
• raske barn – quick children

When you use it as an adverb to describe how they react, you normally use the neuter form, which often ends in -t:

• Barna reagerer raskt. – The children react quickly.

So raskt here is an adverb modifying the verb reagerer. This is very common: many adjectives form adverbs by using the neuter form (fort, hardt, lenge is an exception).

What is the difference between når and da, and why is når used here?

Both can translate to when, but they are used differently:

• når – for:
  • future time: Når jeg kommer hjem, … (When I get home, …)
  • repeated or general situations: Når jeg er trøtt, legger jeg meg tidlig.
• da – for:
  • one specific event in the past:
    Da jeg kom hjem, var ingen der. (When I got home, no one was there.)

In Barna reagerer raskt når læreren roper navnet deres, this is a general, repeated situation (whenever the teacher calls their name), so når is correct. Using da would sound wrong here.

I thought Norwegian has verb-second word order. Why is it når læreren roper navnet deres, where the verb is third?

Norwegian has the verb-second (V2) rule in main clauses, but not in subordinate clauses.

• Main clause: Barna reagerer raskt.
  Order: Subject (Barna) – Verb (reagerer) – other elements (raskt)

• Subordinate clause after når: når læreren roper navnet deres
  Order: Subjunction (når) – Subject (læreren) – Verb (roper) – Object (navnet deres)

So in subordinate clauses introduced by words like når, at, fordi, hvis, som, the normal order is subjunction – subject – verb. V2 applies when the clause stands on its own as a main clause.

Why is it læreren and not just lærer?

Lærer means teacher (indefinite), and læreren means the teacher (definite).

Forms:

• en lærer – a teacher
• læreren – the teacher
• lærere – teachers
• lærerne – the teachers

In this sentence, we are obviously talking about the teacher the children know (probably their own teacher), so the definite form with the -en ending is natural: læreren.

Why is it navnet deres (their name) instead of deres navn?

Norwegian has two main positions for possessives:

1. After the noun, with the noun in definite form

   • navnet deres – literally: the name their
   • boka mi – my book
     This is the most neutral, common pattern in everyday speech.

2. Before the noun, with the noun in indefinite form

   • deres navn – their name
   • min bok – my book
     This can sound more emphatic, contrastive, or formal, depending on context.

In this sentence, navnet deres is the most natural, neutral choice.
Deres navn would usually sound more contrastive, like their name (as opposed to someone else’s).

Why is deres used and not sine or sitt?

Norwegian distinguishes between reflexive possessives (sin / si / sitt / sine) and non-reflexive ones (hans, hennes, deres):

• sin / si / sitt / sine refer back to the subject of the same clause.
• deres here refers to somebody else.

In the når-clause, the subject is læreren (the teacher):

• når læreren roper navnet sitt
  → means when the teacher calls *his/her own name*.

But we want the children’s names, not the teacher’s. So we cannot use sitt/sine; we must use a non-reflexive possessive referencing another group (the children) from the main clause:

• når læreren roper navnet deres – when the teacher calls their name.

So deres here points back to barna in meaning, but grammatically it is just a normal third-person plural possessive, not reflexive.

Why is it navnet (singular) when we’re talking about several children?

This is a bit like English, where people often say:

• The students react when the teacher calls their name.

Even though there are many students, name is in the singular, because we’re talking about the situation in general: each child has a name, and when that name is called, they react.

Norwegian can do the same:

• Barna reagerer raskt når læreren roper navnet deres.
  → General situation: each child reacts when their own name is called.

If you want to emphasize that many different names are being called, you can also say:

• når læreren roper opp navnene deres – when the teacher calls out their names.

Why is it navnet and not just navn?

Navn is a neuter noun:

• et navn – a name
• navnet – the name
• navn – names (indefinite plural)
• navnene – the names

Because we’re using the postposed possessive pattern (navnet deres), the noun takes the definite form:

• navnet deres – their name
  (literally the name their)

If you said deres navn, then navn would be indefinite:

• deres navn – their name

Could the når-clause come first, and does that change word order?

Yes, you can put the når-clause first:

• Når læreren roper navnet deres, reagerer barna raskt.

Two things happen:

1. The subordinate clause (Når læreren roper navnet deres) comes first.

2. In the following main clause, verb-second applies, so the verb comes right after the first element:

   • First element: (Når-lause)
   • Verb: reagerer
   • Subject: barna
   • Other: raskt

So you get: Når læreren roper navnet deres, reagerer barna raskt.

Could we say fort instead of raskt, and is there a difference?

Yes, you could also say:

• Barna reagerer fort når læreren roper navnet deres.

Both raskt and fort can mean quickly / fast, but:

• raskt tends to sound a bit more neutral or slightly more formal.
• fort is very common in everyday speech and sometimes focuses more on speed.

In this sentence, both are fine; the difference is subtle and mostly stylistic.

Is there a more natural way to say “call their names” in Norwegian, like for roll call?

Yes. If you mean calling out a list of names (like in roll call), Norwegian often uses rope opp:

• Barna reagerer raskt når læreren roper opp navnene deres.
  – The children react quickly when the teacher calls out their names.

Here:

• roper opp – calls out (one by one, often from a list)
• navnene deres – their names (definite plural)

The original sentence with roper navnet deres is fine for the idea when the teacher calls their name, but roper opp navnene deres is very idiomatic for roll call.