Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Etter skilsmissen bor han alene.

In Etter skilsmissen bor han alene, it introduces a time phrase: etter skilsmissen = after the divorce.
Prepositional phrases like this can go:
- at the start: Etter skilsmissen bor han alene.
- at the end: Han bor alene etter skilsmissen.

Both word orders are correct; starting with etter skilsmissen gives it more emphasis (what happened after the divorce).

Why is it skilsmissen and not skilsmisse?

Skilsmisse is the indefinite form (a divorce), and skilsmissen is the definite form (the divorce).

en skilsmisse = a divorce
skilsmissen = the divorce

Norwegian usually marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun:

masculine: en bil → bilen (a car → the car)
feminine: ei bok → boka (a book → the book)
here: en skilsmisse → skilsmissen

In English you put the in front; in Norwegian you usually attach -en (or -a / -et) to the noun itself.

How do I know that skilsmisse is a masculine noun, and what are its forms?

In dictionaries, you’ll usually see it written like (en) skilsmisse, which tells you it’s grammatically masculine.

Main forms:

indefinite singular: en skilsmisse (a divorce)
definite singular: skilsmissen (the divorce)
indefinite plural: skilsmisser (divorces)
definite plural: skilsmissene (the divorces)

In the sentence, we talk about one specific divorce, so the definite form skilsmissen is used.

Why is the verb bor in second position after Etter skilsmissen?

Norwegian has a V2 word order rule in main clauses: the finite verb (here bor) must be the second element in the sentence.

Subject-first order:
Han bor alene.
(Subject han is first, verb bor is second.)
Adverbial-first order:
Etter skilsmissen bor han alene.
(Adverbial Etter skilsmissen is first, verb bor is still second, subject han comes after.)

You cannot say *Etter skilsmissen han bor alene; that breaks the V2 rule.

Can I also say Han bor alene etter skilsmissen? Is there any difference?

Yes, Han bor alene etter skilsmissen is perfectly correct.

Both sentences are grammatical and mean the same thing:

Etter skilsmissen bor han alene.
Emphasis a bit more on what happened after the divorce.
Han bor alene etter skilsmissen.
More neutral, starts with the subject han.

This is mostly about nuance and what you want to highlight in the sentence.

What exactly does bor mean here, and how is å bo different from å leve or å være?

Bor is the present tense of å bo, which means to live in the sense of reside / have one’s home.

å bo = to live somewhere (residence)
- Han bor i Oslo. – He lives in Oslo.
å leve = to live (be alive, live one’s life)
- Han lever fortsatt. – He is still alive.
å være = to be
- Han er alene. – He is alone.

In Han bor alene, the meaning is that he lives by himself (no one else in his household), not simply that he is alone at this moment.

Why is bor in the present tense instead of a past or perfect tense?

Norwegian often uses the present tense to describe a current state that started in the past and continues now.

Etter skilsmissen bor han alene.
= After the divorce, he (now) lives alone (and still does).

You could use other tenses depending on the meaning:

Etter skilsmissen bodde han alene.
After the divorce, he lived alone (in the past; we don’t know if it’s still true).
Etter skilsmissen har han bodd alene.
After the divorce, he has lived alone (from then up to now; closer to English present perfect).

The given sentence states his current living situation in a simple, factual way.

Why is it han and not ham in this sentence?

Norwegian still has a small subject/object distinction in pronouns:

han = he (subject form)
ham = him (object form, more formal/standard; in speech han is often used as object too)

In bor han alene, han is the subject of the verb bor, so the subject form han is correct:

Han bor alene. – He lives alone.
Jeg ser ham. – I see him.

Using ham as subject here would be wrong in standard Norwegian.

What does alene mean exactly, and how is it different from ensom?

Alene means alone in the neutral, factual sense: by oneself, with no one else present or living with you.

Han bor alene. – He lives alone (no roommate/partner).

Ensom means lonely, which refers to the feeling of loneliness:

Han er ensom. – He is lonely (emotionally).

So someone can:

bo alene, men ikke være ensom – live alone but not be lonely, or
bo med andre, men være ensom – live with others but feel lonely.

Could I say for seg selv instead of alene, like Han bor for seg selv?

Yes, Han bor for seg selv is also natural and means roughly He lives by himself.

Nuance:

alene – strictly, physically alone; no one else living there.
for seg selv – more like on his own / independently, with a slight focus on independence or separation from family/parents, etc.

In many contexts they overlap, but alene is the most straightforward translation of alone here.

Why don’t we say a separate word for the, like etter den skilsmissen?

Norwegian usually shows definiteness by a suffix on the noun, not by a separate the-word:

English: the divorce
Norwegian: skilsmissen

You can add a demonstrative (den) in Norwegian, but then it becomes more like that divorce or that particular divorce:

etter den skilsmissen – after that (specific) divorce (often with some emotional or contrastive emphasis)

In neutral contexts, etter skilsmissen is the normal way to say after the divorce.

Is etter always followed by a noun phrase like skilsmissen, or can it be followed by a clause?

Etter can be used in two main ways:

Etter + noun (phrase)
- Etter skilsmissen bor han alene.
- Etter middagen går vi en tur. – After dinner, we go for a walk.
Etter at + clause
- Etter at han ble skilt, bor han alene.
  After he got divorced, he lives alone.

When a full clause comes after, you normally use etter at.
With just a noun or noun phrase, you use etter alone, as in the original sentence.

Is there anything special about the pronunciation of skilsmissen or etter?

A couple of points that often help English speakers:

skilsmissen
- skil has a sh-like sound in many accents (similar to skj, depending on dialect).
- The double s in -ss- is pronounced clearly; Norwegian often pronounces double consonants more distinctly.
- Stress is on the first syllable: SKIL-smi-ssen.
etter
- Both t’s are typically pronounced; it’s not like English butter where the tt often becomes a flap.
- The r is usually a tapped or rolled r, depending on dialect.
- Stress on E: Etter.

Getting the stress and the clear consonants right makes your Norwegian sound much more natural.