Questions & Answers about Vi leser teksten høyt sammen.
Word by word:
- Vi – we
- leser – read / are reading (present tense of å lese = to read)
- teksten – the text (tekst = text, -en = the)
- høyt – aloud / out loud (literally high(ly), but here it means in a loud voice)
- sammen – together
So the whole sentence is literally: We read the text aloud together.
Norwegian marks definiteness with an ending on the noun:
- tekst = text (indefinite, general)
- teksten = the text (definite, a specific text)
In English you put the in front of the noun; in Norwegian you usually add a suffix:
- en tekst = a text
- teksten = the text
Using teksten implies that both speaker and listener know which text is meant (e.g., the one in the book, on the page, in the assignment, etc.). If you said Vi leser en tekst høyt sammen, it would mean We are reading a text aloud together (some unspecified text).
Leser is the present tense of the verb å lese (to read).
Basic forms:
- å lese – to read (infinitive)
- leser – read / are reading (present)
- leste – read (past)
- har lest – have read (present perfect)
The present tense form leser is the same for all persons:
- jeg leser – I read / I am reading
- du leser – you read / you are reading
- han/hun leser – he/she reads / is reading
- vi leser – we read / are reading
- dere leser – you (pl.) read / are reading
- de leser – they read / are reading
Norwegian normally uses the simple present form for both:
- Vi leser teksten høyt sammen.
= We read the text aloud together.
= We are reading the text aloud together.
Context tells you whether it is a general habit or something happening right now. If needed, you can add time expressions:
- Akkurat nå leser vi teksten høyt sammen.
Right now we are reading the text aloud together.
There is a progressive-like construction (holder på å lese), but it’s used less often and usually for emphasis on the ongoing process:
- Vi holder på å lese teksten høyt sammen.
We are in the middle of reading the text aloud together.
Norwegian main clauses normally follow S–V–(O) order, similar to English:
- Subject – Verb – (Object) – Adverbials
So here:
- Vi (subject)
- leser (verb)
- teksten (object)
- høyt sammen (adverbials: how and with whom/what manner)
Putting teksten before leser in a simple statement is ungrammatical:
- ❌ Vi teksten leser høyt sammen – incorrect
- ✅ Vi leser teksten høyt sammen – correct
Adverb placement in Norwegian is fairly flexible but not completely free. Some versions:
- ✅ Vi leser teksten høyt sammen. (most natural)
- ✅ Vi leser teksten sammen høyt. (also okay, just a slightly different rhythm)
Less natural or incorrect:
- ⚠️ Vi leser høyt teksten sammen. – sounds odd; you normally keep teksten (object) right after leser.
- ⚠️ Vi leser sammen teksten høyt. – also odd; sammen usually goes near the end here.
A safe rule for simple sentences:
Subject – Verb – Object – other information (time, manner, place, etc.)
So: Vi – leser – teksten – høyt sammen.
Høyt can mean both, depending on context:
High / up high
- Flyet flyr høyt. – The plane flies high.
Aloud / in a loud voice
- Vi leser teksten høyt. – We read the text aloud.
When combined with verbs like lese (to read), snakke (to speak), rope (to shout), lese høyt almost always means read aloud, not reading at a high physical position.
So here, høyt = aloud / out loud.
Sammen literally means together. In this sentence it emphasizes that the action is shared:
Vi leser teksten høyt.
We read the text aloud. (no special emphasis on whether we do it jointly or just at the same time)Vi leser teksten høyt sammen.
We read the text aloud together. (we are taking part in the same activity, jointly)
So yes, you can leave it out; the sentence is still grammatical and meaningful. Sammen just adds the nuance of doing it jointly.
- med = with (preposition)
- sammen = together (adverb)
You often see sammen med = together with:
- Vi leser teksten høyt sammen med barna.
We read the text aloud together with the children.
Compare:
Vi leser teksten høyt med barna.
We read the text aloud with the children.
(grammatical, but doesn’t highlight the “togetherness” as much)Vi leser teksten høyt sammen.
We read the text aloud together. (just “we”, no extra group)
So:
- sammen = focuses on the joint action
- med = focuses on the company (with whom)
In Norwegian, personal pronouns are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence:
- vi = we
- jeg = I
- du = you
- han, hun, de = he, she, they
So:
- Vi leser teksten... (capital V because it’s at the start of the sentence)
- ... og vi skriver et svar. (lowercase vi in the middle of a sentence)
There is no special rule making “I” always capitalized in Norwegian; that’s specific to English.
Approximate pronunciation (Central/Eastern Norwegian):
- Vi – like English vee
leser – LEH-sehr
- le like le in let
- ser a bit like sehr in German, or seh-r
teksten – TEK-sten
- tek like tek in tech (with a short e)
- sten like sten in stenographer
høyt – roughly høyt can be approximated as hoyt with rounded lips
- ø is like the vowel in French feu or German schön
- final t is pronounced
sammen – SAH-men
- sam as in English sum but with a clearer a
- men like men in English (often a bit reduced)
Spoken smoothly, it’s something like:
“VEE LEH-sehr TEK-sten HØYT SAH-men.”
It can correspond to both:
Habitual/general:
- Vi leser teksten høyt sammen hver dag.
We read the text aloud together every day.
- Vi leser teksten høyt sammen hver dag.
Right now:
- Vi leser teksten høyt sammen nå.
We are reading the text aloud together now.
- Vi leser teksten høyt sammen nå.
Norwegian doesn’t change the verb form for this difference; context and adverbs like nå (now), ofte (often), hver dag (every day) carry that meaning.
Yes, tekst can also mean lyrics (of a song) in Norwegian, not only “text” in the abstract sense. Teksten can thus mean:
- the text (in a book, article, exercise, etc.)
- the lyrics (of a song)
Context would decide which is meant. Grammatically the sentence works for either.