Questions & Answers about Han sover mye i helgen.
Yes. Norwegian present tense is broader than English present:
- It can describe a general habit:
- Han sover mye i helgen. = He sleeps a lot on weekends.
- It can also describe a planned or expected near future (especially if context makes that clear):
- Han sover mye i helgen. (said on Thursday, about the coming weekend) ≈ He is going to sleep a lot this weekend.
So sover (present) can cover:
- He sleeps (habit)
- He is going to sleep (near future plan/expectation)
Context decides which reading is meant.
It can mean different things depending on context:
This (coming) weekend
- Said before the weekend:
Han sover mye i helgen. = He will sleep a lot this weekend.
- Said before the weekend:
Last weekend
- Said just after the weekend:
Han sover mye i helgen. (with past-tense context) can be understood as He sleeps/slept a lot during the weekend. - More clearly in the past:
Han sov mye i helgen. = He slept a lot last weekend.
- Said just after the weekend:
On weekends in general (habit)
- It can be understood this way, but i helgene (plural) is clearer:
- Han sover mye i helgene. = He sleeps a lot on weekends (as a rule).
- It can be understood this way, but i helgene (plural) is clearer:
So:
- i helgen = during one specific weekend (this/that weekend)
- i helgene = on weekends in general (all weekends)
Norwegian uses prepositions differently from English, and you just have to learn some of these as fixed patterns.
For weekend, Norwegian normally uses i:
- i helgen = during the weekend
- i ferien = during the vacation
- i julen = during Christmas (the Christmas period)
På is used with many days:
- på mandag = on Monday
- på fredag = on Friday
But for helg (weekend), the idiomatic phrase is i helgen, not på helgen.
På helgen will sound wrong or at least very unusual to native speakers in most contexts.
They are different forms of the noun helg (weekend):
helg – indefinite singular
- en helg / ei helg = a weekend
helgen – definite singular (Bokmål, using masculine form)
- helgen = the weekend
- i helgen = during the weekend
helga – definite singular (Bokmål feminine form, and common in dialects; also standard in Nynorsk)
- i helga = during the weekend
This is very common in spoken Norwegian.
- i helga = during the weekend
helgene – definite plural
- helgene = the weekends
- i helgene = during the weekends / on weekends (generally)
In Bokmål you can treat helg as:
- masculine: en helg – helgen
- or feminine: ei helg – helga
Both are correct; usage depends on region and style.
Mye is a general word for a lot / much and is a bit vague on its own. In this sentence it can mean:
- He sleeps a lot in total during the weekend.
- Could be understood as he sleeps for many hours, but that’s implied, not explicit.
Other, more precise options:
Han sover lenge i helgen.
= He sleeps for a long time on the weekend (focus on the length of each sleep).Han sover ofte i helgen.
= He sleeps often on the weekend (many separate naps).Han sover masse i helgen. (informal)
= He sleeps a ton / loads on the weekend.
So:
- mye – a lot (neutral, quantity)
- lenge – for a long time (duration)
- ofte – often (frequency)
- masse – a lot (very informal, like a ton)
Norwegian main clauses usually follow this pattern:
Subject – Verb – (short adverb) – Other information
In this sentence:
- Han = subject
- sover = verb
- mye = adverb (degree)
- i helgen = time expression (prepositional phrase)
So the neutral word order is:
Han (subject) sover (verb) mye (adverb) i helgen (time phrase).
- Han mye sover i helgen – incorrect word order.
- Han sover i helgen mye – understandable but sounds odd and marked; it breaks the usual flow.
In practice, adverbs like mye normally come right after the verb in simple sentences.
Yes, that is correct and very natural.
Norwegian has a V2 word order rule in main clauses: the verb must be second element in the sentence.
- Neutral: Han sover mye i helgen.
(Subject first, verb second.)
If you move i helgen to the front to emphasize the time, the verb must still come second:
- I helgen sover han mye.
Position breakdown:
- I helgen – first element (time expression)
- sover – second element (verb)
- han – subject
- mye – adverb
You cannot say:
- I helgen han sover mye. ❌ (verb is now third)
Use the same structure but change the verb tense.
Past (preterite):
- Han sov mye i helgen.
= He slept a lot this past weekend.
Future (with skal or kommer til å):
Han skal sove mye i helgen.
= He is going to sleep a lot this weekend. (plan/intention)Han kommer til å sove mye i helgen.
= He will probably sleep a lot this weekend. (prediction, expectation)
You can also keep the present with a future meaning if context is clear:
- Han sover mye i helgen. (said about the coming weekend)
= He is going to sleep a lot this weekend.
In main clauses, the typical order around the verb is:
Subject – Verb – ikke – (other stuff)
So:
- Han sover ikke mye i helgen.
= He does not sleep much on the weekend.
Breakdown:
- Han – subject
- sover – verb
- ikke – negation
- mye – adverb (degree)
- i helgen – time expression
If you start with i helgen:
- I helgen sover han ikke mye.
(Verb still second; ikke follows the subject here.)
No. In Norwegian you must normally include the subject pronoun:
- Han sover mye i helgen. ✅
- Sover mye i helgen. ❌ (sounds incomplete; only possible as a very marked fragment, e.g. in notes/headlines, and still feels odd)
Norwegian verb forms don’t change for different persons (I/you/he/etc.), so you cannot tell the subject from the verb form alone. That’s why the pronoun han is needed.
Approximate pronunciation in standard Eastern Norwegian (roughly, Oslo area):
- Han ≈ hahn (short a as in father, but shorter)
sover ≈ SOH-ver
- so- like English so
- -ver with a short e (like e in get)
mye ≈ MEE-yeh
- first syllable like me
- second syllable like a very quick ye
i ≈ ee (like see)
helgen ≈ HEL-yen
- hel- like hell but with a short e
- -gen becomes a soft -yen sound in most accents
Said smoothly:
Han SOH-ver MEE-yeh ee HEL-yen.