Learn Hardcore Norwegian: På skolen tester vi røykvarsleren hver måned og har brannøvelse to ganger i året. - At school we test the smoke detector every month and have a fire drill twice a year.

På skolen is the normal way to say “at school” in the sense of “at the place where school activities happen”.
- På is often used for:
  - institutions: på skolen, på universitetet, på sykehuset
  - events/activities: på jobb (at work), på kino (at the movies)
I skolen would literally mean “inside the school (building)” and is rarely used, usually only in very physical, spatial contexts.

So På skolen tester vi … = “At school we test …” in the general, institutional sense, which is what you want here.

Why is it “skolen” and not just “skole”?

Skolen is the definite form: “the school”, not just “school”.

skole = school (indefinite)
skolen = the school (definite, singular)

In Norwegian, when you mean a specific school (the one “we” go to / work at), you normally use the definite form:

På skolen = At the school → understood as “at (our) school”

You usually don’t use a “bare” indefinite noun for institutions in the way English does (English can say just “at school” without “the”); Norwegian prefers the definite form: på skolen, på jobben, på universitetet.

Why is the word order “På skolen tester vi …” and not “På skolen vi tester …”?

Norwegian main clauses follow a V2 word order rule: the verb must be in second position.

Here’s the structure:

First position: an adverbial (time/place) → På skolen
Second position: the finite verb → tester
Third position: the subject → vi

So:

På skolen tester vi … ✔ (adverbial – verb – subject)
På skolen vi tester … ✘ (adverbial – subject – verb) → breaks V2.

This V2 rule is very consistent in Norwegian main clauses:

I dag spiser jeg pizza. (Today eat I pizza.)
Etter jobb går vi hjem. (After work go we home.)

Could I also say “Vi tester røykvarsleren på skolen …”? Is that wrong?

That’s also correct; the emphasis just changes slightly.

Vi tester røykvarsleren på skolen hver måned …
→ Neutral word order: subject–verb–object–place–time
På skolen tester vi røykvarsleren hver måned …
→ Moves “på skolen” to the front for focus, then V2 inversion forces tester into second position.

Both are fine; the original sentence slightly emphasizes the location “at school”.

Why is there no inversion in the second part: “… og har brannøvelse …”, and not “… og har vi brannøvelse …”?

The sentence is one main clause with two verbs sharing the same subject:

På skolen tester vi røykvarsleren hver måned
(full clause with subject vi)
og (vi) har brannøvelse to ganger i året.
(subject vi is understood, so it’s omitted)

You don’t repeat inversion here. You either say:

… tester vi … og har brannøvelse … ✔
(implicit vi in the second part)

… tester vi … og vi har brannøvelse … ✔
(explicit vi both times, still no inversion after og)

Og har vi brannøvelse … would usually start a new main clause and sound like:

“And do we have fire drills …?”, or
“And then we have fire drills …” (with a different rhythm/emphasis).

So in a simple “X and Y” listing with the same subject, you don’t invert again.

Why is it “hver måned” and not “hver måneden”?

With hver (every / each), the noun stays in the indefinite singular form:

hver måned = every month
hver dag = every day
hver uke = every week
hver time = every hour

You do not add the definite ending here:

✘ hver måneden
✔ hver måned

So the pattern is always: hver + indefinite singular noun.

Why is it “to ganger i året” and not “to ganger hver år” or something else?

Several points here:

“to ganger”
- to = two
- gang = time / occurrence
- to ganger = two times / twice
“i året”
- år = year
- året = the year (definite singular)
- i året literally: in the year → idiomatically “per year / a year”
You don’t say hver år:
- It would need hvert år (neuter): år is neuter.
- hvert år means every year and is a good alternative:
  - … og har brannøvelse to ganger hvert år. ✔

So you can say:

to ganger i året = twice a year
to ganger hvert år = twice every year

Both are idiomatic; the original just chooses i året.

Why is “året” definite here, but “måned” is not definite in “hver måned”?

Different constructions behave differently:

hver måned → “each month”
- With hver, the noun must be indefinite: måned, not måneden.
i året → “in the year / per year”
- In the phrase i året, Norwegian prefers the definite form: året.
- Think of it like “within the year as a whole”.

So it’s a matter of which expression you’re using:

hver + indefinite: hver måned, hver uke, hver dag
i + definite: i året (per year), i uka (per week), i måneden (per month) are also common frequency phrases:
- en gang i måneden = once a month
- to ganger i uka = twice a week

Why is it “røykvarsleren” and not just “røykvarsler”?

Røykvarsleren is the definite singular form: “the smoke detector”.

røyk = smoke
varsler = (a) warning device / someone who warns
røykvarsler = (a) smoke detector (indefinite)
røykvarsleren = the smoke detector (definite, singular)

In context, we’re talking about the specific detector/system at the school, so definite form is natural:

tester vi røykvarsleren = we test the smoke detector

Norwegian tends to use the definite form for specific known objects in a setting, like:

slår vi av lyset = we turn off the light
låser vi døra = we lock the door
tester vi røykvarsleren = we test the smoke detector

What if the school has many smoke detectors? Can “røykvarsleren” still be used?

Yes, it can, depending on how you think of it.

røykvarsleren (singular definite) can refer to:
- one actual detector, or
- the system of detectors as a functional unit, or
- “the smoke alarm” as a general facility in the building.

If you really want to emphasize that all the physical devices are tested, you can make it plural:

tester vi røykvarslerne hver måned
= we test the smoke detectors every month.

Both versions are grammatically correct; røykvarsleren is just slightly more generic/collective in feel.

What kind of word is “røykvarsler”? How does its grammar work?

Røykvarsler is a masculine compound noun:

røyk (smoke) + varsler (warner/alerter) → røykvarsler (smoke detector)

Its forms:

Indefinite singular: en røykvarsler (a smoke detector)
Definite singular: røykvarsleren (the smoke detector)
Indefinite plural: røykvarslere (smoke detectors)
Definite plural: røykvarslerne (the smoke detectors)

In your sentence, you see the definite singular: røykvarsleren.

Why is “brannøvelse” used without an article? Why not “en brannøvelse” or “brannøvelsen”?

Brannøvelse is a feminine (or common-gender) noun meaning “fire drill”:

Indefinite singular: en (or ei) brannøvelse = a fire drill
Definite singular: brannøvelsen = the fire drill

In the sentence “… og har brannøvelse to ganger i året.”, brannøvelse is used in indefinite singular, without an article, because English “have fire drill” here is more like “do fire drills in general” as a repeated activity.

But you could also say:

… og har en brannøvelse to ganger i året.
= “… and have a fire drill twice a year.”

Both are understandable; the version without en sounds a bit more like talking about “fire drill” as an activity type, not counting individual events.

Why is it “har brannøvelse” and not “gjør brannøvelse”?

Norwegian often uses ha + noun for activities that English might express with “have” or “do”:

ha brannøvelse = have a fire drill / do a fire drill
ha prøve = have a test
ha møte = have a meeting
ha ferie = be on holiday

Using gjøre (do) directly with brannøvelse is unusual:

✘ gjøre brannøvelse sounds off to native ears.
✔ ha brannøvelse is the standard phrase.

So you should remember “ha brannøvelse” as a fixed, natural collocation.

Why is the verb “tester” in the present tense? Could it also be “testet” or “har testet”?

Tester is present tense, used here for a habitual / repeated action:

tester vi røykvarsleren hver måned
= we test the smoke detector every month (as a routine)

This is the same use of the present tense as in English “We test the smoke alarm every month.”

Other tenses would change the meaning:

testet vi røykvarsleren hver måned
= we tested the smoke detector every month (in the past, no longer necessarily true)
har testet røykvarsleren
= have tested the smoke detector (completed action, not a routine description)

So present tense fits because the sentence describes a regular, ongoing routine.