Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Læreren viser hvordan vi kan oversette spørsmål som vi ikke forstår. - The teacher shows how we can translate questions that we do not understand.

In Læreren viser hvordan vi kan oversette …, it is best understood as “The teacher demonstrates / shows how we can translate …”.
Because viser here has the sense of demonstrates, it does not need a direct object like oss.

You could say:

Læreren viser oss hvordan vi kan oversette spørsmål som vi ikke forstår.
= The teacher shows us how we can translate questions that we don’t understand.

Both are correct, but without oss the focus is more on the act of demonstrating itself, not on whom it is shown to.

Why is the word order hvordan vi kan oversette and not hvordan kan vi oversette?

Norwegian follows different word order rules in direct and indirect questions.

Direct question (what you actually ask):
Hvordan kan vi oversette spørsmålene?
= How can we translate the questions?
Here, the verb (kan) comes right after hvordan (V2 rule in main clauses).
Indirect question (embedded inside another sentence):
Læreren viser hvordan vi kan oversette spørsmål …
= The teacher shows how we can translate questions …
Now it’s part of a subordinate clause introduced by hvordan, so the word order is:
- Subject – verb – rest: vi kan oversette, not kan vi oversette.

Rule of thumb:

After hvordan in an embedded clause, use subject before the verb: hvordan vi kan …

Why do we say hvordan vi kan oversette instead of something like hvordan å oversette (“how to translate”)?

English often uses “how to + verb”:

The teacher shows how to translate questions …

Norwegian normally does not use hvordan å + infinitive in this way. Instead, it prefers a full clause with a subject and a verb:

hvordan vi kan oversette …
hvordan man kan oversette … (how one/people can translate …)

So:

Læreren viser hvordan vi kan oversette spørsmål …
is the natural Norwegian equivalent of
The teacher shows how to translate questions …

Using hvordan å oversette is generally felt to be unidiomatic or wrong in standard Norwegian in this context.

What does som do in spørsmål som vi ikke forstår?

Here som is a relative pronoun. It works like that / which in English:

spørsmål som vi ikke forstår
= questions that we don’t understand / questions which we don’t understand

Function:

spørsmål = the noun being described (questions)
som vi ikke forstår = relative clause adding information about spørsmål

So the structure is:

spørsmål [som vi ikke forstår]
= questions [that we don’t understand]

In Norwegian, som is used for both that and which in this kind of clause.

Why is it spørsmål and not something like spørsmålene if the meaning is “questions that we don’t understand”?

In Norwegian, spørsmål is:

singular indefinite: a question
plural indefinite: questions

They look the same in form. The difference is usually clear from context.

In this sentence:

spørsmål som vi ikke forstår
is understood as “questions that we don’t understand” (plural).

If you said:

spørsmålene som vi ikke forstår
= the questions that we don’t understand

you would be referring to some specific, known questions.
Without the -ene ending, it’s more general: any questions we don’t understand.

Why is the word order som vi ikke forstår and not som vi forstår ikke?

This is about word order in subordinate clauses (underordnede setninger) in Norwegian.

In main clauses, the negation ikke usually comes after the verb:
- Vi forstår ikke spørsmålet.
  = We do not understand the question.
In subordinate clauses, ikke usually comes before the main verb:
- … som vi ikke forstår.
  = … that we do not understand.

So in a relative clause like this:

som vi ikke forstår is correct.
som vi forstår ikke is wrong word order in standard Norwegian.

Does som here refer to spørsmål even though spørsmål doesn’t change in the plural?

Yes. Even though spørsmål looks the same in singular and plural, som here still refers back to spørsmål as a plural noun in context.

The meaning is:

spørsmål som vi ikke forstår
= questions that we don’t understand

Som does not show number (singular/plural) or gender. It’s “neutral” in form and can refer back to:

singular or plural nouns
any grammatical gender

The number is understood from context, not from the shape of som itself.

What is the nuance of kan oversette compared to just oversetter?

kan oversette = can translate / are able to translate
It suggests ability, possibility, or method.
- hvordan vi kan oversette spørsmål
  = how we can translate questions (what method we can use / how it is possible for us)
oversetter (present tense) = translate / are translating (a simple fact or ongoing action)
- hvordan vi oversetter spørsmål
  = how we translate questions (the way we usually do it, our normal procedure)

In the original sentence, kan fits well because the teacher is showing a way we can (are able to) translate questions we don’t understand.

Could we say som vi ikke skjønner instead of som vi ikke forstår? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

spørsmål som vi ikke skjønner
and it’s perfectly natural.

Difference in nuance:

forstår (from å forstå)
- Slightly more neutral/standard.
- Used in both spoken and written language.
- Often preferred in more formal contexts.
skjønner (from å skjønne)
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Can sound a bit more informal or colloquial, depending on context.

In this sentence, both are idiomatic. A textbook or teacher might prefer forstår, but you’ll hear skjønner a lot in daily conversation.

What is the role of Læreren with -en at the end?

Læreren is the definite form of lærer (teacher).

lærer = a teacher (indefinite singular)
læreren = the teacher (definite singular)

Norwegian usually marks definiteness by adding an ending:

en (masculine), a (feminine), et (neuter) in the indefinite form:
- en lærer = a teacher
and then -en / -a / -et on the noun itself in the definite form:
- læreren = the teacher

So Læreren viser … means “The teacher shows …”, referring to a specific teacher, presumably known from context.