Foreldrene prøver å begrense barnas skjermtid i helgene.

The parents try to limit the children's screen time on the weekends.

Breakdown of Foreldrene prøver å begrense barnas skjermtid i helgene.

• å: to
• i: on
• helgen: the weekend
• prøve: to try
• forelderen: the parent
• begrense: to limit
• barnas: children's
• skjermtiden: the screen time

Questions & Answers about Foreldrene prøver å begrense barnas skjermtid i helgene.

What does Foreldrene tell me about number and definiteness? Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

Foreldrene means the parents.

• The basic word is en forelder = a parent (singular).
• The normal plural is foreldre = parents.
• The -ne ending makes it definite plural: foreldrene = the parents.

Norwegian usually adds definiteness as an ending on the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.
So:

• foreldre = parents
• foreldrene = the parents

You don’t say de foreldrene for the parents; just foreldrene is enough in normal sentences.

What exactly does prøver mean here, and how is it different from the English try?

prøver is the present tense of å prøve, and here it means to try (to do something).

• å prøve = to try
• de prøver = they try / they are trying

In this sentence:

• Foreldrene prøver å begrense …
  = The parents are trying to limit …

Å prøve can also mean to try on (clothes) or to test, but when followed by å + infinitive (like å begrense), it almost always means to attempt to do something.

Conjugation:

• infinitive: å prøve
• present: prøver
• past: prøvde
• perfect participle: har prøvd

Why do we need å before begrense? Could you say Foreldrene prøver begrense?

The å here is the infinitive marker, like to in English.

• å begrense = to limit
• prøver å begrense = try to limit

In Norwegian, most verbs in the infinitive are preceded by å when they depend on another verb like prøve, like, ville (want to), etc.

You cannot say:

• ✗ Foreldrene prøver begrense …

You must say:

• ✓ Foreldrene prøver å begrense …

(There are a few verbs that take a bare infinitive without å, e.g. vil, kan, må, but prøve is not one of them.)

What is the difference between å and og? They sound similar—how do I know which to use here?

å and og are different words:

• å = to (infinitive marker), used before a verb:

  • å begrense = to limit
  • å lese = to read

• og = and, used to connect words or phrases:

  • foreldre og barn = parents and children
  • å lese og å skrive = to read and to write

In prøver å begrense, you need å because it introduces the infinitive verb begrense.
If you wrote prøver og begrense, it would be considered incorrect in standard written Norwegian, even though many people pronounce them in a way that makes them sound almost the same in speech.

What does begrense mean exactly, and do I need a preposition after it?

å begrense means to limit, to restrict, or to reduce (within certain bounds).

Patterns:

• å begrense noe = to limit something
  
  • begrense barnas skjermtid = limit the children’s screen time

You don’t need a preposition after begrense when you just say what you’re limiting.
If you want to specify a limit, you can add til:

• å begrense skjermtiden til én time
  = to limit the screen time to one hour

So here, begrense barnas skjermtid is a straightforward verb + direct object, no preposition required.

How does barnas work? Why is there an -s at the end, and what is the base form of the word?

barnas means the children’s (possessive/genitive).

The noun barn is irregular:

• et barn = a child
• barn = children (indefinite plural)
• barna = the children (definite plural)
• barnas = the children’s

So the pattern is:

1. Start with barna (the children).
2. Add -s to make it possessive:
   • barnas skjermtid = the children’s screen time.

This -s is the normal way of showing possession in Norwegian. It is attached directly to the noun, even when the noun already has a definite ending.

Could you also say skjermtiden til barna instead of barnas skjermtid? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say both:

• barnas skjermtid
• skjermtiden til barna

They both mean the children’s screen time.

Difference in structure:

• barnas skjermtid
  Literally: the-children’s screen time
  Possessor first, then the thing possessed.

• skjermtiden til barna
  Literally: the screen time to the children
  Possessed thing first, then til + noun.

Both patterns are common. In this sentence, barnas skjermtid is a bit more compact and is probably the most natural choice, but skjermtiden til barna is also perfectly correct.

Why is it barnas skjermtid and not barna sin skjermtid?

Norwegian does have a “double definite + sin/sitt/sine” pattern:

• barna sin skjermtid
  (literally: the children their screen time)

This is possible in Norwegian, especially in some dialects and in more informal speech, but in standard written Norwegian you usually prefer:

• barnas skjermtid

So:

• barnas skjermtid = neutral, standard, written style.
• barna sin skjermtid = dialectal / informal, not usually used in formal writing.

Both mean the children’s screen time, but for learning purposes it’s safer to stick with barnas skjermtid.

What kind of word is skjermtid? Is it a compound, and how would I make it definite?

Yes, skjermtid is a compound noun:

• skjerm = screen
• tid = time
• skjermtid = screen time

It behaves like a regular singular noun (typically masculine or feminine, but here it doesn’t matter much in practice):

• (en) skjermtid = (a) screen time
• skjermtiden = the screen time

In this sentence:

• barnas skjermtid
  = the children’s screen time (indefinite form of skjermtid, but made specific by the possessive barnas).

You normally don’t say barnas skjermtiden; when you use barnas in front, you keep skjermtid without its own definite ending.

Why is it i helgene and not i helgen or i helga? What’s the nuance with the plural?

• en helg = a weekend
• helgen / helga = the weekend (definite singular; helgen is Bokmål standard, helga is used and accepted but more dialectal/regional)
• helger = weekends (plural)
• helgene = the weekends (definite plural)

i helgene literally means in the weekends, but in natural English we say at weekends / on weekends.
Using the plural here signals a repeated, habitual action:

• Foreldrene prøver å begrense barnas skjermtid i helgene.
  = The parents try to limit the children’s screen time on weekends (in general).

If you say:

• i helgen / i helga
  it more often refers to this coming weekend or the (single) weekend being talked about, not to a general habit.

Why is the preposition i used with helgene? Could you use på instead?

With helg, both i and på appear in different expressions, but here:

• i helgene is the standard and most natural way to say on weekends / during weekends.

You might see i helgene as analogous to i feriene (in the holidays), i ukedagene (on weekdays).

På helgen(e) is much less common and can sound odd; på is more typical with days:

• på mandag = on Monday
• på kvelden = in the evening

So for the general habitual phrase on weekends, i helgene is the best choice.

Why is the verb in the present tense (prøver) when in English we might say try or are trying? Is this about a habit?

Yes. Norwegian presens (present tense) is used for:

• actions happening now
• habits or regular actions
• general truths

Here, prøver expresses a habitual action:

• Foreldrene prøver å begrense barnas skjermtid i helgene.
  = The parents try / are trying to limit the children’s screen time on weekends (as a general practice).

Norwegian doesn’t distinguish between simple present and present continuous like English does.
prøver can correspond to both try and are trying in English, depending on context.

Where would ikke go if I wanted to say The parents don’t try to limit the children’s screen time on weekends?

In Norwegian, ikke (not) usually comes after the finite verb (here: prøver) in main clauses.

So:

• Foreldrene prøver ikke å begrense barnas skjermtid i helgene.
  = The parents do not try to limit the children’s screen time on weekends.

Word order:

• Subject: Foreldrene
• Finite verb: prøver
• Negation: ikke
• Infinitive phrase: å begrense barnas skjermtid
• Adverbial: i helgene

You cannot move ikke to the very end or the very front without changing the meaning or making it sound unnatural.