Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Ingen av lærerne tillater mobilbruk i forelesningssalen. - None of the teachers allow mobile use in the lecture hall.

Ingen av lærerne = none of the teachers (a specific group of teachers already known from context)
Ingen lærere = no teachers / not any teachers (more general, not tied to a specific group)

In this sentence, ingen av lærerne suggests we’re talking about a particular group, e.g. “the teachers at this university / on this course / in this department”. That’s why the structure is:

ingen av + definite plural
→ ingen av lærerne = none of the teachers

If you said ingen lærere tillater mobilbruk, it would sound more like a general statement about teachers as a profession, not a specific set of teachers.

Why is lærerne in the definite plural form?

In Norwegian, when you say ingen av + noun, the noun is almost always:

definite form (-en / -et / -a), and
plural if you’re talking about more than one.

So:

lærer = teacher (indefinite singular)
lærere = teachers (indefinite plural)
lærerne = the teachers (definite plural)

English uses an extra word of the:
none of the teachers
Norwegian builds this into the noun ending instead:

ingen av lærerne = none of the teachers

So the definite plural -ne on lærerne is required by the ingen av pattern.

What exactly does ingen mean, and is it singular or plural?

Ingen basically means no / none / nobody depending on context.

Forms:

ingen: common gender (en-words) and plural
intet: neuter (et-words), more formal/literary; in everyday speech people often just use ingen for neuter too

Number:

Ingen does not change its form for plural; the plural sense comes from the noun:
- ingen lærer = no teacher
- ingen lærere = no teachers
- ingen av lærerne = none of the teachers

Norwegian verbs don’t change for singular/plural, so tillater looks the same regardless.

What verb form is tillater, and what is the infinitive?

Tillater is the present tense of the verb å tillate (to allow / to permit).

Conjugation:

Infinitive: å tillate
Present: tillater (I/you/he/she/they allow → same form for all)
Preterite (past): tillot
Past participle: tillatt

The pattern in the sentence is:

Ingen av lærerne (subject)
tillater (verb in present)
mobilbruk (object)
i forelesningssalen (adverbial/prepositional phrase)

Why is mobilbruk written as one word, and why is there no article?

Norwegian loves compound nouns. Mobilbruk is:

mobil = mobile phone / cellphone
bruk = use / usage
→ mobilbruk = mobile phone use / the use of mobile phones

Two points:

Written as one word
In Norwegian, when two nouns combine to form a new concept, they are written as a single word:
- mobiltelefon (mobile phone)
- mobilbruk (use of mobile phones)
- forelesningssal (lecture hall)
No article
Mobilbruk here is treated like an uncountable/mass noun (usage in general), similar to English:
- “Teachers don’t allow mobile phone use in the lecture hall.”
  (not “a mobile phone use”)

So we say simply tillater mobilbruk, without en / ei / et.

Can you explain how forelesningssalen is built up and why it has -en at the end?

Forelesningssalen is a compound noun in the definite form:

forelesning = lecture
sal = hall
forelesningssal = lecture hall
- the -s- is a common linking sound in compounds
forelesningssalen = the lecture hall
- -en is the definite singular ending for many en-words (masculine/common gender)

So:

sal → salen (the hall)
forelesningssal → forelesningssalen (the lecture hall)

In English you add the; in Norwegian you attach -en to the end of the whole compound.

Why is it i forelesningssalen and not på forelesningssalen?

Both i and på can be translated as in / at, but their use with locations is partly conventional.

i is used for being inside an enclosed space:
- i forelesningssalen = in the lecture hall (inside the room)
- i klasserommet = in the classroom
- i huset = in the house
på is used with certain fixed expressions and types of places:
- på skolen = at school
- på jobb = at work
- på universitetet = at the university

A lecture hall is conceived as a physical room you are inside, so i forelesningssalen is natural and idiomatic.
På forelesningssalen would sound wrong in standard Norwegian in this context.

Why is the word order Ingen av lærerne tillater mobilbruk and not something like Ingen av lærerne mobilbruk tillater?

Norwegian has a strict verb-second (V2) rule in main clauses:

The finite verb must be in second position in the sentence.
The first position can be almost anything: subject, adverb, object, etc.

In your sentence:

1st “slot”: Ingen av lærerne (subject phrase)
2nd “slot”: tillater (finite verb – must be here)
rest: mobilbruk i forelesningssalen

So:

Ingen av lærerne tillater mobilbruk i forelesningssalen. ✅
Ingen av lærerne mobilbruk tillater i forelesningssalen. ❌ (verb is not in second position)

You can move the place expression to the front, but the verb stays second:

I forelesningssalen tillater ingen av lærerne mobilbruk. ✅
(Now i forelesningssalen is first, tillater is still second.)

Why is forelesningssalen definite (“the lecture hall”) when English could also say “in lecture halls” in general?

Norwegian often uses the definite form to make generic statements about typical situations, especially with places:

på skolen = at school (in general)
på universitetet = at university
på kontoret = at the office / in the office

Similarly:

i forelesningssalen can mean “in (the) lecture hall” in a general, typical sense (how things are in lecture halls at this institution).

If you really wanted to stress a general statement about lecture halls everywhere, you could also say:

Ingen av lærerne tillater mobilbruk i forelesningssaler.
(= in lecture halls, plural)

But the original sentence with the definite forelesningssalen sounds very natural as a generic rule about “how it works here”.

Could I say Ingen lærere tillater å bruke mobil i forelesningssalen instead? What’s the difference from mobilbruk?

Yes, you could say:

Ingen lærere tillater å bruke mobil i forelesningssalen.

This is understandable and grammatical. Differences:

Structure
- tillater mobilbruk
  → verb + noun (allow mobile phone use)
- tillater å bruke mobil
  → verb + infinitive clause (allow to use a mobile)
Style
- mobilbruk sounds a bit more compact and “rule-like”, like formal regulations or written rules.
- å bruke mobil feels slightly more conversational / descriptive.
Specificity
- å bruke mobil points to the actual action of using your phone.
- mobilbruk refers to phone use as a general concept (the practice of using phones).

In many everyday contexts they’re interchangeable, but mobilbruk fits very well in rules and policies.

How do you pronounce lærerne and forelesningssalen?

Approximate pronunciation in standard Eastern Norwegian (Oslo-ish), using rough English approximations:

lærerne
- /ˈlæːrərnə/
- læ: like the a in “cat” but longer
- rer: a tapped/flapped r plus e like in “bed”
- ne: like “nuh”
- In many dialects the r + n can merge into a retroflex rn sound.
forelesningssalen
- /ˈfuːrəˌleːsnɪŋsˌsɑːlən/ (details vary by dialect)
  Rough breakdown:
- fo: like “foo” but shorter
- re: like “reh” in “red”
- les: like “less” (but with long e)
- nings: “ningz”
- sal: like English “sahl” (a bit like “father” but shorter)
- en: “en”

The stress is mainly on fo- and -salen: FO-re-les-nings-SA-len.

Is there any difference between Ingen av lærerne tillater mobilbruk i forelesningssalen and Ingen lærer tillater mobilbruk i forelesningssalen?

Yes, there’s a nuance:

Ingen av lærerne tillater …
= None of the teachers allow …
→ Refers to a specific group of teachers (e.g. at this school/department).
Ingen lærer tillater …
= No teacher allows … / Not a single teacher allows …
→ Sounds more like a general statement about teachers, or a very strong claim.

In many contexts they could both be used, but ingen av lærerne ties the statement more clearly to a concrete set of teachers you have in mind.