Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Noen kvelder spiller vi brettspill i stedet for å se på TV. - Some evenings we play board games instead of watching TV.

Noen kvelder spiller vi … = emphasizes when (the time).
Vi spiller … noen kvelder … = emphasizes we and the activity; the time is added as extra info.

Both are grammatically correct; the first just foregrounds the time expression.

What exactly does Noen kvelder mean, and how is it different from noen av kveldene?

Noen kvelder = “some evenings” in a general, non-specific sense. It means: on some evenings (without specifying which ones).
noen av kveldene = “some of the evenings”, referring to a specific set of evenings that you and the listener already know about.

Examples:

Noen kvelder spiller vi brettspill.
= On some evenings (in general, from time to time), we play board games.
Av og til jobber jeg sent. Noen av kveldene er jeg ikke hjemme før klokka ti.
= Sometimes I work late. On some of those evenings I’m not home before ten.

In your sentence, Noen kvelder is about a general habit, so noen kvelder is the natural choice.

Why is brettspill written as one word and not brett spill?

Norwegian typically writes compound nouns as one word.

brett = board
spill = game
brettspill = board game(s)

Some more examples:

huset + nøkkel → husnøkkel (house key)
sommer + ferie → sommerferie (summer holiday)
barne + bok → barnebok (children’s book)

Writing brett spill as two words would look wrong in standard Norwegian and could be confusing, because it suggests two separate ideas (“board” and “game”) rather than one concept (“board game”).

Why is there no article before brettspill? Why not et brettspill or brettspillene?

In this sentence, brettspill is used like an activity, almost like a mass noun:

spiller brettspill ≈ “play board games” / “do board gaming”

You normally drop the article when you talk about an activity in general:

spille fotball = play (some) football
drikke kaffe = drink (some) coffee
spille sjakk = play chess
spille brettspill = play board games

If you want to refer to specific, countable board games, you can use an article or plural:

Vi spiller et brettspill. = We’re playing one (specific) board game.
Vi spiller mange brettspill. = We play many board games.
Vi liker disse brettspillene. = We like these board games.

In your sentence, the focus is the general habit, so the bare form brettspill is natural.

What’s the difference between i stedet for and istedenfor?

Both forms exist, but:

i stedet for (three words) is the most common and most neutral spelling in standard written Norwegian.
istedenfor (one word) is also accepted in Bokmål, but is a bit less formal and less common in careful writing.

In meaning, they are the same:

Vi spiller brettspill i stedet for å se på TV.
Vi spiller brettspill istedenfor å se på TV.

Both mean: We play board games instead of watching TV.
If you’re unsure, i stedet for (three words) is the safest choice.

Why do you say å se på TV and not just å se TV?

In Norwegian, when you watch something like TV, many verbs use a preposition, especially på:

se på TV = watch TV
se på film = watch a movie
se på en serie = watch a series
se på bilder = look at photos

Literally, se på TV is “look at/on TV,” but idiomatically it means “watch TV.”

You can hear se TV colloquially, but the standard and safest form is se på TV.

So:

i stedet for å se på TV = instead of watching TV (standard)
i stedet for å se TV = colloquial, less standard

Why do we need å before se in å se på TV?

å in å se is the infinitive marker, similar to “to” in English (“to see,” “to watch”).

The structure here is:

i stedet for å + infinitive

So you get:

i stedet for å se på TV
- å se = to see/watch (infinitive)
- se = the infinitive form of the verb

Some similar patterns:

i stedet for å spise = instead of eating
i stedet for å gå = instead of walking/going
i stedet for å jobbe = instead of working

You cannot drop å in this structure; i stedet for se på TV would be ungrammatical.

Why is the verb spiller in the simple present, when in English I might say “we sometimes play” or “we often play”?

Norwegian present tense covers both:

English simple present (we play)
English present continuous (we are playing)

So spiller can mean:

“play” (regularly, habitually)
“are playing” (right now), depending on context

In your sentence, with the time expression Noen kvelder (“some evenings”), the present tense spiller clearly expresses a habitual action:

Noen kvelder spiller vi brettspill …
= On some evenings, we (habitually) play board games …

Norwegian doesn’t need an extra word like “sometimes” or “often” here – Noen kvelder already gives that sense.

What’s the function of på in på TV, and can I leave it out?

på is a preposition that’s often used with media and surfaces:

på TV = on TV (watching TV)
på radio = on the radio
på kino = at the cinema
på skjermen = on the screen
på veggen = on the wall

In å se på TV, the combination se på is idiomatic: “watch” (literally “look at / look on”).

Standard Norwegian: å se på TV
If you drop på and say se TV, it is understood in many contexts, but sounds colloquial and less standard. In writing and in careful speech, you should keep på.

Where would I put ikke if I want to say “Some evenings we don’t play board games, we watch TV instead”?

Keep the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position. ikke comes after the verb.

Example:

Noen kvelder spiller vi ikke brettspill, men ser på TV.

Breakdown:

Noen kvelder = first element
spiller = second element (finite verb)
vi = subject
ikke = negation, comes after the verb and subject
brettspill = the object

So the pattern is:

[Time] + [Verb] + [Subject] + ikke + [Rest of the sentence]
→ Noen kvelder spiller vi ikke brettspill …

What is the difference between noen and noe, and why is it noen kvelder here?

noen is used with countable plural nouns:
- noen kvelder = some evenings
- noen bøker = some books
- noen venner = some friends
noe is used with:
- uncountable / mass nouns:
  - noe melk = some milk
  - noe tid = some time
- as a pronoun meaning “something”:
  - Jeg vil ha noe å drikke. = I want something to drink.

Since kvelder is the plural of a countable noun (kveld = evening), you must use noen:

✅ noen kvelder
❌ noe kvelder (incorrect)