Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hun får en parkeringsbot fordi hun står på parkeringsplassen lenger enn tillatt. - She gets a parking fine because she stays in the parking space longer than allowed.

Hun får en parkeringsbot – She is (now) receiving a parking ticket.
Hun har en parkeringsbot – She has a parking ticket (she already got one / she has one on record).

Here, the focus is on the act of receiving the fine, so får is correct.

What exactly is a parkeringsbot, and how is it formed?

Parkeringsbot means parking fine / parking ticket.

It’s a compound noun:

parkering = parking
bot = fine, penalty (money you have to pay because you broke a rule)

So literally: parkeringsbot = parking fine.

Grammar:

Gender: usually feminine (but can also be treated as masculine in Bokmål)
- en parkeringsbot / ei parkeringsbot – a parking ticket
- parkeringsboten – the parking ticket
- parkeringsbøter – parking tickets (plural)

You can also say just en bot if the context (parking) is already clear.

Why is it fordi hun står … and not fordi står hun …?

Fordi introduces a subordinate clause (a “because”-clause). In Norwegian, subordinate clauses use subject–verb word order:

fordi hun står – because she is standing
(subject = hun, verb = står)

Putting the verb before the subject (fordi står hun) would be wrong here.

Compare:

Main clause (can stand alone):
Hun står på parkeringsplassen. – She is standing in the parking lot.
Word order: subject–verb–other.
Subordinate clause (after fordi):
fordi hun står på parkeringsplassen.

So the sentence correctly has:

Hun får en parkeringsbot (main clause)
fordi hun står på parkeringsplassen lenger enn tillatt (subordinate clause)

Why is it står på parkeringsplassen and not er på parkeringsplassen?

Norwegian often uses stå (stand) for objects that are upright or parked/placed somewhere, especially cars:

Bilen står på parkeringsplassen. – The car is (standing / parked) in the parking lot.

So å stå here basically means “to be (parked/standing somewhere)”, not actively standing up like a person would.

Hun står på parkeringsplassen could literally mean “she is standing in the parking lot” (physically standing),
but in context with a parking fine, it often implies her car is standing/parked there.

You could say er på parkeringsplassen:

Hun er på parkeringsplassen. – She is at the parking lot.

But that describes her location, not the fact that the car is parked there. For a parking fine, står fits better.

Why is it på parkeringsplassen and not i parkeringsplassen?

In Norwegian:

på is used for many “at/on (a place)” expressions:
- på skolen – at school
- på kontoret – at the office
- på kino – at the cinema
- på parkeringsplassen – at/in the parking lot
i means more literally in / inside:
- i bilen – in the car
- i huset – in the house

With parkeringsplass, the normal idiomatic choice is på:

på parkeringsplassen – in/at the parking lot (natural Norwegian)

I parkeringsplassen would sound wrong, as if you are somehow inside the physical material of the parking lot.

Why is it parkeringsplassen (with -en) and not just parkeringsplass?

The -en ending marks the definite form of a masculine/feminine noun:

en parkeringsplass – a parking lot (indefinite)
parkeringsplassen – the parking lot (definite)

In the sentence:

på parkeringsplassen = in the parking lot

This suggests a specific parking lot, probably one that both speaker and listener know about or that is defined by context (for example, the parking lot by the supermarket).

If you said:

Hun står på parkeringsplass lenger enn tillatt.

it would sound odd or incomplete, like saying “She is standing on parking lot longer than allowed” without “the/a”. Norwegian almost always needs the article or definite ending here.

What does lenger mean, and how is it different from lengre?

Both lenger and lengre can mean longer, but there is a traditional distinction:

lenger – comparative adverb (longer in time/distance)
lengre – comparative adjective (longer (thing) in length)

So:

Hun står der lenger enn tillatt. – She stands there longer than allowed. (time)
En lengre vei – a longer road. (adjective describing a noun)

In modern Bokmål:

Both forms are now widely accepted and used.
In this sentence, lenger is the standard form, because it describes how long she stands there (adverbial use).

Meaning here:

lenger enn tillatt = longer than allowed (too long compared with the allowed maximum time).

What is enn, and how is it used?

Enn is the word used in comparisons, similar to English than:

større enn – bigger than
lengre/lenger enn – longer than
mer enn – more than
bedre enn – better than

In the sentence:

lenger enn tillatt = longer than (what is) allowed

Don’t confuse:

enn (than)
en (a / one – article or number)
They sound similar but have different spellings and meanings.

What does tillatt mean, and what form of the word is it?

Tillatt here means allowed / permitted.

It is the past participle of the verb å tillate (to allow, to permit):

å tillate – to allow
tillatt – allowed / permitted

It’s used like an adjective:

Det er ikke tillatt. – It is not allowed.
Maksimal tid er to timer. Det er ikke tillatt å stå lenger enn det. – Maximum time is two hours. It is not allowed to stand longer than that.

In lenger enn tillatt, you can think of it as short for:

lenger enn (det som er) tillatt – longer than (what is) allowed.

Could the sentence also be Hun får en parkeringsbot fordi hun har stått på parkeringsplassen lenger enn tillatt? What’s the difference?

Yes, that sentence is correct, and it sounds more clearly past:

Hun får en parkeringsbot fordi hun står på parkeringsplassen lenger enn tillatt.
– She is getting a parking ticket because she is (currently) standing/parked there longer than allowed.
(Focus on a situation happening right now.)
Hun får en parkeringsbot fordi hun har stått på parkeringsplassen lenger enn tillatt.
– She is getting a parking ticket because she has stood / has been parked there longer than allowed.
(Focus on the completed duration up to now.)

Both are natural; the second emphasizes that the over-long parking period is already in the past and is the reason for the fine.

Why is it hun here and when would I use henne?

Hun and henne are both English she/her, but they are used differently:

hun – subject form (she)
- Hun får en parkeringsbot. – She gets a parking ticket.
henne – object form (her)
- Han gir henne en parkeringsbot. – He gives her a parking ticket.
  (subject = han, object = henne)

In this sentence, she is the subject of the verb får, so hun is the correct form.

Is there a difference between parkeringsbot and parkeringsgebyr?

Both refer to money you pay because of parking, but usage and nuance can differ slightly:

parkeringsbot
- Common, everyday word.
- Often associated with getting a fine from the police or authorities.
parkeringsgebyr
- More formal, often used about fees/charges from private parking companies or in official texts.
- gebyr = fee/charge.

In casual speech about getting a ticket on your windshield, parkeringsbot is very natural:

Jeg fikk en parkeringsbot i går. – I got a parking ticket yesterday.

Can I change the word order and say: Fordi hun står på parkeringsplassen lenger enn tillatt, får hun en parkeringsbot?

Yes, that is perfectly correct and quite natural Norwegian:

Fordi hun står på parkeringsplassen lenger enn tillatt, får hun en parkeringsbot.
– Because she is standing in the parking lot longer than allowed, she gets a parking ticket.

Note the word order in the main clause after the subordinate clause:

After a clause starting with fordi, the verb comes before the subject in the following main clause:
- … , får hun en parkeringsbot. (verb får before subject hun)

This is called inversion and is standard Norwegian word order after most introductory elements (including full subordinate clauses) at the beginning of the sentence.