Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Ingen av barna mine liker mareritt, men noen av dem liker skumle filmer. - None of my children like nightmares, but some of them like scary movies.

barna mine (definite plural + possessive after) is very common in everyday speech and often sounds a bit more natural/colloquial.
mine barn (possessive before noun) is slightly more formal or neutral.

Meaning-wise, in this sentence, they are practically the same: none of my children.

Why is it barna mine and not mine barna?

In Norwegian, you can place the possessive pronoun:

Before the noun (indefinite noun):
- mine barn – my children
After the noun (definite noun):
- barna mine – my children (literally “the children mine”)

But you cannot mix them like mine barna – that would be incorrect.

So your options are:

barna mine ✅
mine barn ✅
mine barna ❌

Is barna mine singular or plural, and why is skumle also plural?

barn = child (neuter)
barn (again) = children (indefinite plural)
barna = the children (definite plural)

So barna mine = my children (definite plural).

Because barna is plural, any adjective referring to them must also be plural:

skumle filmer – scary films (plural)
skumle barn – scary children (plural)
skummel film – a scary film (singular)

Here, skumle is plural to agree with filmer (films).

Why is it liker mareritt without an article? Shouldn’t it be like liker marerittene?

Both are possible, but they mean different things:

liker mareritt – like nightmares in general (generic)
liker marerittene – like the nightmares (some specific nightmares already known in the context)

Norwegian often uses a bare noun (no article) to talk about things in general:

Jeg liker kaffe. – I like coffee.
Hun liker hunder. – She likes dogs.
Barna mine liker ikke mareritt. – My children don’t like nightmares (as a general concept).

So liker mareritt is natural when talking about nightmares in general.

Is mareritt singular or plural here?

mareritt is one of those nouns where the singular indefinite and plural indefinite look the same:

et mareritt – a nightmare
mareritt – nightmare / nightmares (indefinite)
marerittet – the nightmare
marerittene – the nightmares

In this sentence, liker mareritt is understood as “(do not) like nightmares” – a generic plural meaning.

Why is it noen av dem and not noen av de?

In Norwegian:

de is the subject form (like English they).
dem is the object form (like English them).

After a preposition like av, you must use the object form:

av dem – of them ✅
av de – of they ❌

So:

Noen av dem liker skumle filmer. – Some of them like scary movies.

Who does dem refer to in noen av dem?

Dem refers back to barna mine (my children).

So the structure is:

Ingen av barna mine liker mareritt – None of my children like nightmares
men noen av dem liker skumle filmer – but some of them (those children) like scary movies

Dem is the normal plural object pronoun for people or things, regardless of gender:

jeg ser dem – I see them

What is the difference between ingen av barna mine liker mareritt and barna mine liker ikke mareritt?

Meaning:

Ingen av barna mine liker mareritt.
- Focus: none of my children like nightmares.
- Implies you are thinking of each child in the group, and not a single one likes them.
Barna mine liker ikke mareritt.
- Focus: as a group, my children don’t like nightmares.
- In practice, this often also means none of them like nightmares, but the structure is more “group statement” than “counting individuals”.

Grammatically:

ingen av negates the people (none of the children).
ikke negates the verb phrase (do not like).

Both are common and natural.

What does noen av dem mean exactly? Is it “some” or “any”?

In this positive sentence, noen means some:

noen av dem = some of them

Noen can mean:

some in positive statements:
- Noen av dem liker skumle filmer. – Some of them like scary movies.
any in questions or negatives:
- Liker noen av dem skumle filmer? – Do any of them like scary movies?
- Ingen av dem liker noen skumle filmer. – None of them like any scary movies.

Here, because the clause is positive, the natural translation is some of them.

Why is there a comma before men?

Men is a coordinating conjunction meaning but.

Norwegian typically uses a comma before men when it connects two main clauses:

Ingen av barna mine liker mareritt, men noen av dem liker skumle filmer.

Two clauses:

Ingen av barna mine liker mareritt.
Noen av dem liker skumle filmer.

Therefore, a comma is placed before men, very similar to English.

Why is there no å after liker? In English we might say “like to watch scary movies”.

In this sentence, liker takes a noun object, not a verb:

liker mareritt – like nightmares
liker skumle filmer – like scary movies

You only use å before verbs:

liker å se skumle filmer – like to watch scary movies
liker å drikke kaffe – like to drink coffee

So:

liker skumle filmer – like scary movies ✅ (noun object)
liker å se skumle filmer – like to watch scary movies ✅ (verb phrase)
liker å skumle filmer ❌ (wrong: å must be followed by a verb)

Why is the adjective skumle and not skummel in skumle filmer?

Adjectives in Norwegian change form depending on gender/number/definiteness.

Skummel (scary) has these basic forms:

Singular indefinite:
- en skummel film – a scary movie (masc./fem.)
- et skummelt mareritt – a scary nightmare (neuter)
Plural indefinite:
- skumle filmer – scary movies
- skumle mareritt – scary nightmares
Definite (singular and plural with the definite article):
- den skumle filmen – the scary movie
- de skumle filmene – the scary movies

Since filmer is plural indefinite, the adjective must be skumle:

skumle filmer – scary movies ✅
skummel filmer ❌