Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hun og samboeren hennes fikk nylig en liten lønnsøkning, så budsjettet deres er ikke like stramt. - She and her partner recently got a small raise, so their budget is not as tight.

Hun og samboeren hennes = She and her live-in partner (very natural)
Hun og hennes samboer would sound more formal, marked, or slightly unusual in everyday speech. It can also sound contrastive, as in her partner (as opposed to someone else’s).

So the sentence uses the normal, neutral pattern.

Why is it Hun and not Henne here?

Hun is the subject form (like English she), and henne is the object form (like English her).

Subject: Hun og samboeren hennes fikk …
Object: Jeg så henne i går (I saw her yesterday)

Since Hun is part of the subject of the sentence (the ones who received the raise), you must use Hun, not Henne.

What exactly does samboer mean?

Samboer literally means co‑dweller and is:

a partner you live with (same household),
usually in a romantic relationship,
not specifying whether you are married or not.

It’s often used where English might say partner, boyfriend/girlfriend I live with, or domestic partner.

So samboeren hennes is her live‑in partner / the partner she lives with.

Why is it samboeren (definite form) and not just samboer?

Norwegian uses the definite form when a person is specific and known in context:

samboer = a (generic) cohabiting partner
samboeren = the cohabiting partner (that specific one she has)

Because we are talking about her particular partner, not just a partner in general, the definite form samboeren is natural: samboeren hennes = her partner.

Why is the verb fikk used instead of har fått?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

fikk = past simple (preterite), like got
har fått = present perfect, like have gotten / have received

In Norwegian, the simple past fikk is very common for completed past events, even if they are recent:

Hun fikk nylig en liten lønnsøkning
= She recently got a small raise.

You could also say:

Hun har nylig fått en liten lønnsøkning,
which puts a bit more focus on the present result, but in everyday speech fikk is perfectly natural here.

Why is the adverb nylig placed after fikk (as in fikk nylig)? Could it go somewhere else?

The standard neutral word order is:

Hun og samboeren hennes fikk nylig en liten lønnsøkning …

Main-clause pattern is usually: > Subject – Verb – (short adverb) – Other elements

So:

Hun … fikk nylig en liten lønnsøkning … is the most typical.

You can move nylig for emphasis or style:

Nylig fikk hun og samboeren hennes en liten lønnsøkning …
(slight emphasis on nylig / Recently, she and her partner got…)

But fikk nylig is the default, neutral position.

Why is it en liten lønnsøkning and not et lite lønnsøkning or den lille lønnsøkningen?

There are two issues here: gender and definiteness.

Gender and adjective form
- økning is a common gender noun (same group as en bok, en bil).
- The compound lønnsøkning keeps that gender: en lønnsøkning.
- The adjective liten behaves like this:
  - indefinite singular common gender: en liten …
  - indefinite singular neuter: et lite …
  - definite singular (both genders): den lille …
  - plural: små
So:
- en liten lønnsøkning = correct (indefinite, common gender)
- et lite lønnsøkning = wrong (wrong gender)
- den lille lønnsøkningen = the small salary increase (definite)
Indefinite vs definite
We’re introducing a (non-specific) small raise that they received, so the indefinite form en liten lønnsøkning is right.

What does the compound lønnsøkning literally mean, and how is it formed?

lønnsøkning is a compound noun:

lønn = salary, wage
the -s- in the middle is a linking element often used in compounds
økning = increase

So lønnsøkning literally means salary increase.

Norwegian frequently glues nouns together like this:
lønn + økning → lønnsøkning.

What does så do in this sentence, and why is there a comma before it?

Hun og samboeren hennes fikk nylig en liten lønnsøkning, så budsjettet deres er ikke like stramt.

Here så means so / therefore, introducing a result clause:

They got a small raise, so their budget is not as tight.

We have two independent main clauses:

Hun og samboeren hennes fikk nylig en liten lønnsøkning
budsjettet deres er ikke like stramt

They are joined by så. Norwegian style normally puts a comma between two main clauses joined this way:

…, så …

Note that så can also mean then or so (to such a degree) in other contexts, but here it is clearly so / therefore.

Why is it budsjettet (definite form) instead of just budsjett?

Again, definiteness: we are talking about their particular household budget, not just a budget in general.

et budsjett = a budget
budsjettet = the budget

Since every couple typically has one shared budget situation, it’s natural to refer to it as budsjettet in context: budsjettet deres = their budget.

Why is it budsjettet deres and not budsjettet sitt? What’s the difference between deres and sitt here?

Both are possible, but with nuance:

deres = their/theirs (third-person possessive, not reflexive)
sin / si / sitt / sine = reflexive possessive, referring back to the subject of the clause.

In a sentence like this, the subject is Hun og samboeren hennes (they, as a pair). The budget belongs to those same people, so grammatically the reflexive form is allowed:

… så budsjettet sitt er ikke like stramt.

This would mean: so their own budget is not as tight.

However, budsjettet deres is also very common and perfectly natural in speech and writing. It can mean either:

the budget belonging to that same couple, or
the budget belonging to some other group (context decides).

In everyday language, many speakers default to deres with plural subjects, even when sitt would be strictly “more reflexive.”

So:

budsjettet sitt = emphasises their own budget (more clearly reflexive)
budsjettet deres = very common and neutral; context shows it refers to them.

Why is it ikke like stramt and not ikke så stramt? What does like do here?

like … som is a standard way to form comparisons of equality in Norwegian:

like stor som = as big as
like dyrt som = as expensive as
ikke like stramt (som før) = not as tight (as before)

In this sentence the som-part is left implicit, but understood:

… budsjettet deres er ikke like stramt (som før).
= their budget is not as tight (as before).

så can also be used in comparisons, but like is the default for as … as. så stramt on its own would more often mean so tight / that tight, not as tight as.

Why is the adjective stramt in the neuter form? Why not stram?

Adjective agreement in a predicative position (after er) follows the gender and number of the noun:

budsjett is a neuter noun: et budsjett
its definite form is budsjettet
with neuter nouns, the predicative adjective takes -t:
- budsjettet er stramt
- rommet er stort
- huset er nytt

For common gender nouns (en-words), you would not add -t:

planen er stram (plan = common gender)
økonomien er stram

So budsjettet … er ikke like stramt is correct agreement with neuter budsjett.