Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Barna liker å spille sjakk selv om de ofte taper. - The children like to play chess even though they often lose.

The basic noun is barn = child / children (it’s neuter and has the same form in singular and plural in the indefinite).
- et barn = a child
- barn = children
The ending -a is the definite plural ending for this word:
- barna = the children

So Barna liker … literally = The children like …

Why is it liker å spille and not just liker spille?

In Norwegian, the particle å is normally used before verbs in the infinitive.

å spille = to play
liker å spille = like to play / like playing

You cannot drop å here.
✅ Barna liker å spille sjakk.
❌ Barna liker spille sjakk. (unnatural/wrong in standard Norwegian)

Does liker å spille sjakk mean “like to play chess” or “like playing chess”?

It can mean both. Norwegian doesn’t make a distinction between to play and playing in this structure.

Barna liker å spille sjakk
= The children like to play chess
= The children like playing chess

The nuance you sometimes have in English (“like doing” vs “like to do”) is not expressed here; liker å + infinitive covers both.

What is the difference between spille and leke for “to play”, and why is it spille sjakk?

Norwegian uses two main verbs for “play”:

å spille – play games, sports, or instruments
- spille sjakk (play chess)
- spille fotball (play football/soccer)
- spille gitar (play guitar)
å leke – play in the sense of children playing freely, make‑believe, toys, etc.
- leke med venner (play with friends)
- leke med biler (play with toy cars)

Chess is a structured game with rules, so you must say å spille sjakk, not å leke sjakk.

Why is sjakk not capitalized, even though “Chess” sometimes is in English?

In Norwegian, names of languages, days, months, and games are not capitalized unless they start the sentence.

sjakk = chess
engelsk = English (the language)
mandag = Monday

So Barna liker å spille sjakk is correct; Sjakk in the middle of a sentence would be wrong in normal writing.

What does selv om mean exactly, and can I translate it word-for-word?

selv om is a fixed conjunction meaning “even though / although”.

Barna liker å spille sjakk selv om de ofte taper.
= The children like to play chess even though they often lose.

Literally, selv means self, even and om can mean if / whether / about, but in this combination you should just treat selv om as one unit: a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause of contrast.

Why is there no comma before selv om in this sentence?

In modern Norwegian punctuation, a subordinate clause that comes after the main clause does not need a comma before it, especially when the sentence is short and clear.

So both are acceptable, but the version without a comma is very common:

Barna liker å spille sjakk selv om de ofte taper. (very normal)
Barna liker å spille sjakk, selv om de ofte taper. (also possible)

If the selv om‑clause comes first, you must add a comma:

Selv om de ofte taper, liker barna å spille sjakk.

Why is the word order de ofte taper and not de taper ofte?

Because selv om de ofte taper is a subordinate clause. In Norwegian:

In a main clause, the verb tends to be in second position (V2), and adverbs like ofte usually come after the verb:
- De taper ofte. = They often lose.
In a subordinate clause, adverbs normally come before the main verb:
- … at de ofte taper = … that they often lose
- … selv om de ofte taper = … even though they often lose

So inside this selv om‑clause, de ofte taper is the standard order.

Would selv om de taper ofte be wrong?

In standard written Norwegian, selv om de ofte taper is the correct and most natural word order.

You might hear selv om de taper ofte in casual speech, but it goes against the usual rule that in subordinate clauses the adverb comes before the verb. For learners (and in writing), you should stick to:

✅ selv om de ofte taper

What does ofte mean, and is it the same as mye?

ofte means “often / frequently” and describes how often something happens.

De taper ofte. = They lose often / They often lose.

mye means “a lot / much” and usually describes degree or quantity, not frequency.

De taper mye. = They lose a lot (for example, they lose many games or by a big margin), not “they lose often” in the strict sense.

So in this sentence, ofte is the correct choice.

What does taper mean here, and is it related to English “tape”?

No connection.

The verb is å tape = to lose (a game, a match, a contest).

de taper = they lose
de ofte taper = they often lose

It’s a false friend with English tape. Norwegian tape (the noun) for sticky tape exists too, but it’s unrelated to å tape “to lose”.

What are the main forms of the verb å tape?

For the verb å tape (to lose, a game):

Infinitive: å tape – to lose
Present: taper – lose / are losing
Past (preterite): tapte – lost
Present perfect: har tapt – have lost

So you could say, for example:

Barna taper ofte. = The children often lose.
Barna tapte i går. = The children lost yesterday.
Barna har tapt mange ganger. = The children have lost many times.

Why is it de and not dem in selv om de ofte taper?

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

In this clause, they are the ones doing the action (losing), so you must use de:

de taper = they lose (subject)
Vi slår dem. = We beat them (object)

So selv om de ofte taper is correct.

Could I use elsker instead of liker here?

You can, but the meaning changes slightly:

liker = like
elsker = love (much stronger)

So:

Barna liker å spille sjakk selv om de ofte taper.
= The children like playing chess…
Barna elsker å spille sjakk selv om de ofte taper.
= The children love playing chess…

Both are grammatically fine; choose the verb according to how strong you want the feeling to be.

How would the sentence change if we talked about one child instead of the children?

If you keep the grammatical gender of barn (neuter), you get:

Barnet liker å spille sjakk selv om det ofte taper.
= The child likes to play chess even though it often loses.

However, when referring to a real person, Norwegians usually prefer han (he) or hun (she) instead of det:

Barnet liker å spille sjakk selv om han ofte taper.
Barnet liker å spille sjakk selv om hun ofte taper.

Grammatically, det is correct, but han/hun sounds more natural when you know the child’s gender.