Learn Hardcore Norwegian: I ungdomstiden drømte han om en karriere som musiker. - In his teenage years he dreamed of a career as a musician.

Since the sentence begins with a time expression I ungdomstiden, that whole phrase counts as position 1. Then the verb must come next (position 2), and the subject follows:

I ungdomstiden (time)
drømte (verb)
han (subject)
om en karriere som musiker (rest of the sentence)

If you start with the subject instead, you get normal SVO order:

Han drømte i ungdomstiden om en karriere som musiker.

Could I also say Han drømte om en karriere som musiker i ungdomstiden? Is that different?

Yes, that’s also correct:

Han drømte om en karriere som musiker i ungdomstiden.

Both sentences mean the same thing. The difference is emphasis and style:

I ungdomstiden drømte han …
– Puts a little more focus on when (his youth) and sounds slightly more literary or narrative.
Han drømte … i ungdomstiden.
– Feels more neutral and conversational, with the time phrase at the end.

Grammatically, both are fine.

Why is it i ungdomstiden and not i sin ungdom? Are both possible?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different flavors:

I ungdomstiden drømte han …
– Neutral, general expression: In (his) youth he dreamed…
– Does not explicitly say his, but it’s understood from han later.
I sin ungdom drømte han …
– More literally In his youth he dreamed…
– Slightly more personal/poetic; you explicitly tie the youth period to him with sin (his own).

Both are correct; i ungdomstiden is very common and natural here.

What tense is drømte, and what is the corresponding present tense?

Drømte is the past tense (preterite) of the verb å drømme (to dream).

å drømme = to dream
han drømmer = he dreams / he is dreaming (present)
han drømte = he dreamt / he dreamed (past)

So the sentence talks about something that was true in the past but is not necessarily true now.

Why is it om en karriere? What does om mean here?

In this context, om is the preposition used with å drømme when you mean to dream of/about something you want or imagine.

å drømme om noe = to dream of/about something (as a wish or goal)

Examples:

Hun drømmer om en bedre fremtid. – She dreams of a better future.
De drømte om å bo ved havet. – They dreamed of living by the sea.

So drømte han om en karriere literally mirrors English he dreamed about a career or he dreamed of a career.

Why is it en karriere and not just karriere with no article?

Karriere is normally treated as a countable noun in Norwegian, so you usually use an article:

en karriere = a career
karrieren = the career

Saying just drømte han om karriere (without article) would sound incomplete or off in this context. You generally need:

om en karriere (about a career)
or
om karrieren (about the career, a specific one already known from context).

Here we’re talking about a career in general (not one specific career), so en karriere is used.

Why is there no article in som musiker? Why not som en musiker?

After som when talking about someone’s role, job or function, Norwegian normally does not use an article:

som musiker = as a musician
som lærer = as a teacher
som lege = as a doctor

Using an article (som en musiker) changes the meaning and sounds odd here. It would suggest like some (particular) musician rather than in the role of a musician / as a musician (profession).

So in this career/profession context, som + profession is used without an article.

What exactly does som do in som musiker?

Som here means as (not who/that).

en karriere som musiker = a career as a musician

Other examples with som = as:

Han jobber som lærer. – He works as a teacher.
Hun er kjent som forfatter. – She is known as an author.

So som links karriere with the role musiker, indicating what kind of career he dreamed of.

Could I say en karriere å være musiker instead of en karriere som musiker?

No, en karriere å være musiker is not natural Norwegian.

When you describe what kind of thing something is (profession, role, function), Norwegian prefers som + noun, not å være:

en jobb som lærer – a job as a teacher
en karriere som musiker – a career as a musician

Å være musiker is fine in other structures:

Han ville være musiker. – He wanted to be a musician.
Drømmen hans var å være musiker. – His dream was to be a musician.

But directly after karriere, you should use som musiker, not å være musiker.

Why is it han and not ham?

Han is the subject form (like English he).
Ham is the object form (like English him).

In this sentence, he is the one doing the dreaming, so you need the subject form:

Han drømte … – He dreamed …

You would use ham only as an object:

Jeg så ham. – I saw him.
De snakket om ham. – They talked about him.

So drømte han is correct because han is the subject.

What are the grammatical genders and definite/indefinite forms of ungdomstid, karriere, and musiker?

ungdomstid (youth time/period)
- Gender: feminine (often treated as en-word too)
- Indefinite singular: en/ei ungdomstid
- Definite singular: ungdomstiden / ungdomstida
- In the sentence: i ungdomstiden (in the youth time)
karriere (career)
- Gender: masculine (en-word)
- Indefinite singular: en karriere
- Definite singular: karrieren
- In the sentence: en karriere
musiker (musician)
- Gender: masculine (en-word)
- Indefinite singular: en musiker
- Definite singular: musikeren
- In the sentence: som musiker (no article after som in the “profession” sense)

How would you pronounce drømte and karriere?

Using a rough English-style transcription (standard Eastern Norwegian):

drømte
- IPA: /ˈdrœm.tə/
- Roughly: DRUHM-tuh
  - drø like French “œ” (between e and ø), similar to English “u” in “burn” (but with rounded lips)
  - stress on the first syllable
karriere
- IPA: /kɑr.iˈɑː.rə/
- Roughly: kah-ree-AH-reh
  - ka like “kah”
  - ri like “ree”
  - a in the stressed syllable is long: -AH-
  - last -re is a short, unstressed -reh

Stress is on the second to last syllable: ka-ri-E-re.