På skolen tester vi røykvarsleren hver måned og har brannøvelse to ganger i året.

Both på and i can translate to “at / in”, but they’re used differently.

• 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.

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.

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

Here’s the structure:

1. First position: an adverbial (time/place) → På skolen
2. Second position: the finite verb → tester
3. 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.)

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”.

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)

or

• … 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.

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.

Several points here:

1. “to ganger”

   • to = two
   • gang = time / occurrence
   • to ganger = two times / twice

2. “i året”

   • år = year
   • året = the year (definite singular)
   • i året literally: in the year → idiomatically “per year / a year”

3. 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.