Vi venter ved stoppet.

We wait at the stop.

Breakdown of Vi venter ved stoppet.

• vi: we
• ved: at
• vente: to wait
• stoppet: the stop

Questions & Answers about Vi venter ved stoppet.

In Vi venter ved stoppet, does Vi venter mean We wait or We are waiting?

It can mean both:

• Vi venter = We wait (general/habitual)

  • Example: Hver dag venter vi ved stoppet. – Every day we wait at the stop.

• Vi venter = We are waiting (right now, at this moment)

  • Example: Vi venter ved stoppet nå. – We are waiting at the stop now.

Norwegian has only one present tense form for both simple present and present continuous, so venter covers both meanings; context decides which one you understand.

What exactly is venter grammatically, and what is the infinitive?

• Infinitive: å vente = to wait
• Present tense: venter for all persons (I/you/he/we/they all use venter)

So:

• Jeg venter – I wait / I am waiting
• Du venter – You wait / You are waiting
• Vi venter – We wait / We are waiting

Norwegian verbs do not change with the subject (no I wait vs he waits difference).

Why is it ved stoppet and not på stoppet or i stoppet?

The preposition ved usually means by / next to / near.

• ved stoppet = by the stop, physically close to it.

Comparisons:

• ved – by, next to (emphasises being beside something):

  • ved døra – by the door
  • ved elva – by the river

• på – on / at (used with many common places):

  • på skolen – at school
  • på jobb – at work
  • For a bus stop, you’ll more often see på bussholdeplassen (at the bus stop).

• i – in / inside:

  • i huset – in the house

So i stoppet would literally be inside the stop, which is usually wrong.
Ved stoppet is natural when you mean standing/waiting next to the stop.

What is stoppet here? Is the -et a past tense ending like in English stopped?

In ved stoppet, stoppet is a noun in the definite singular form, not a verb.

• Noun: et stopp (a stop) – neuter gender
  
  • Indefinite singular: (et) stopp – a stop
  • Definite singular: stoppet – the stop
  • Indefinite plural: stopp – stops
  • Definite plural: stoppene – the stops

The ending -et here means “the” for neuter nouns.
It is not a past tense; it just looks the same as the past tense of the verb å stoppe (stoppet = stopped).

You can tell from the grammar:

• after a preposition like ved, you normally get a noun phrase, so stoppet must be a noun (the stop) here.

How do I say We are waiting for the bus vs We are waiting at the bus stop in Norwegian?

There is an important difference between vente på and vente ved:

• vente på (noen/noe) = wait for (someone/something)

  • Vi venter på bussen. – We are waiting for the bus.
  • Jeg venter på henne. – I am waiting for her.

• vente ved (et sted) = wait by/at (a place)

  • Vi venter ved stoppet. – We are waiting by the stop.

For at the bus stop, common options are:

• Vi venter på bussholdeplassen. – We are waiting at the bus stop.
• Vi venter ved bussholdeplassen. – We are waiting by the bus stop.

So:

• for the bus → på bussen
• at/by the stop → på / ved bussholdeplassen or ved stoppet

Is Vi venter ved stoppet the only natural way to say this, or are there other common versions?

Other very natural options include:

• Vi står ved stoppet. – We are standing by the stop.
  (focus on standing there, but often implies you’re waiting)

• Vi står og venter ved stoppet. – We are standing and waiting by the stop.
  (explicit about both standing and waiting)

• Vi venter på bussen ved stoppet. – We are waiting for the bus by the stop.

Which one you choose depends on what you want to emphasize:

• just the waiting → Vi venter ved stoppet
• the fact that you are standing there → Vi står ved stoppet
• both standing and waiting → Vi står og venter ved stoppet

Can I change the word order and say Ved stoppet venter vi?

Yes, Ved stoppet venter vi is grammatically correct.

Norwegian main clauses normally follow the V2 rule (the finite verb is in second position):

• Vi venter ved stoppet.
  
  • 1st element: Vi (subject)
  • 2nd: venter (verb)

If you move the place phrase to the front:

• Ved stoppet venter vi.
  
  • 1st element: Ved stoppet (place)
  • 2nd: venter (verb)
  • 3rd: vi (subject)

This word order puts extra emphasis on the location (At the stop is where we’re waiting), but both sentences mean the same thing in most contexts.

How do you pronounce venter and stoppet?

Approximate pronunciation (standard East Norwegian):

• venter: VEN-ter

  • ven like English “vend” but without the d
  • ter like “te(r)”, with a light r at the end

• stoppet: STOPP-eh

  • stopp with a short o (like in British stop), and a long pp
  • -et often reduced to a short -e sound (uh); the t is usually silent in many dialects
  • So it often sounds like STOPP-uh

Stress is on the first syllable in both words: VÉN-ter, STÓPP-et.

Why is it vi and not oss in Vi venter ved stoppet?

Norwegian, like English, has different forms for subject and object pronouns:

• vi = we (subject form)
• oss = us (object form)

You use:

• vi when we is the subject of the sentence:

  • Vi venter ved stoppet. – We are waiting at the stop.
  • Vi går hjem. – We are walking home.

• oss when us is the object:

  • Han ser oss. – He sees us.
  • Han venter på oss. – He is waiting for us.

Since we are the ones doing the action of waiting, vi is correct.

Does Norwegian have a special continuous form like are waiting, is waiting, or something like “to be waiting”?

Norwegian normally does not use a separate continuous tense like English.
The simple present covers both:

• Vi venter. – We wait / We are waiting.

There is a construction holde på å + infinitive to emphasize an ongoing action:

• Vi holder på å vente. – literally We are in the process of waiting,
  but this sounds awkward with vente, because waiting is naturally ongoing.

More natural for an ongoing action is often:

• Vi står og venter. – We are standing and waiting.
• Vi sitter og leser. – We are sitting and reading.

So for everyday language, Vi venter ved stoppet is the normal way to say We are waiting at the stop.