Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Broren hennes er litt lat og venter med å lese til siste dag. - Her brother is a bit lazy and waits to study until the last day.

broren hennes is the most neutral and most common way to say her brother.
hennes bror often sounds a bit more formal, written, or contrastive (for example, when you stress her specifically: her brother, not someone else’s).

So in everyday speech, broren hennes is the default.

Why do we use the definite form broren and not just bror?

When you use a possessive pronoun after the noun (like hennes, hans, min, din), the noun usually takes the definite form:

bror = brother
broren = the brother
broren hennes = her brother

Pattern:

Noun + -en/-a/-et (definite) + possessive
- boka mi = my book
- huset vårt = our house
- broren hennes = her brother

So broren hennes is the normal structure.

Could you also say hennes bror here, and would it mean something different?

Yes, you can say Hennes bror er litt lat og venter med å lese til siste dag. It is correct, and it has the same basic meaning.

Nuance:

Broren hennes – neutral, typical everyday word order.
Hennes bror – somewhat more formal or can sound more contrastive, like you are emphasizing whose brother it is.

In most spoken contexts, Broren hennes sounds more natural.

What exactly does litt lat mean, and why litt?

lat = lazy
litt = a little, a bit

So litt lat means a bit lazy / somewhat lazy, softening the criticism.

litt can be used in front of adjectives to weaken them:

litt kald = a bit cold
litt trøtt = a bit tired
litt dumt = a bit stupid / a little stupid

It works much like a bit or a little in English.

Why is it lat and not late or something else? Do adjectives change form here?

Norwegian adjectives do change form, but here lat is in its basic form:

After er (and other forms of å være) with a singular subject, you use the base form:
- Han er lat. = He is lazy.
- Hun er snill. = She is kind.

Only in the plural you would see late:

Brødrene er late. = The brothers are lazy.

So Broren hennes er litt lat is correct for a single brother.

What does the expression venter med å lese mean? It looks different from English waits to read.

å vente med å gjøre noe is an idiom meaning to postpone / to put off doing something.

han venter med å lese = he postpones reading / he puts off reading
jeg venter med å vaske huset = I will wait with cleaning the house (I will clean it later)

If you say venter på å lese, it sounds more like is waiting to be allowed / able to read, which is a different meaning.

So here venter med å lese expresses procrastination, not simply waiting for the right moment.

What role does med play in venter med å lese?

In this construction, med is part of a fixed pattern:

vente med å + infinitive = wait/postpone doing something

You can think of it as:

vente (med noe) = to postpone something
vente med å lese = postpone reading

You normally cannot drop med with this meaning.
venter å lese would not be idiomatic Norwegian.

Why do we need å before lese?

å marks the infinitive form of the verb, like to in English to read.

Pattern in Norwegian:

å + infinitive:
- å lese = to read
- å spise = to eat
- å jobbe = to work

After certain verbs and expressions, you must use å + infinitive:

liker å lese = likes to read
prøver å lese = tries to read
venter med å lese = postpones reading

So å lese is required here.

Why is it til siste dag and not something like til den siste dagen?

Both forms are possible, but they have slightly different feels:

til siste dag
- very common, idiomatic
- sounds general, like until the last day (in general)
til den siste dagen
- a bit more specific and heavier
- often refers to a clearly defined, concrete last day (for example, a date you have just mentioned)

In everyday speech, til siste dag is short and natural, and it fits the idea of a general pattern of behaviour.

What is the function of til here? Could you use før instead?

til in this context means until / up to:
- venter med å lese til siste dag = he postpones reading up to the last day (he only starts then)
før means before:
- han må lese før siste dag = he must read before the last day

So:

til siste dag emphasizes how long he delays (all the way until the end).
før siste dag would emphasize the deadline he needs to meet (he must do it before that point).

For procrastination, til is the natural choice.

Why is it siste dag and not den siste dag or siste dagen?

Norwegian often uses siste with an indefinite noun for time expressions:

siste dag = the last day
siste uke = last week
siste gang = the last time

Here, siste itself carries the definiteness, so you do not need den or the definite ending -en.

Using den siste dagen would be more heavy and specific, like referring to one clearly identified day in a more formal context. til siste dag is lighter and more idiomatic.

Why is the verb er in the present tense here? Does it mean he is lazy just right now or generally?

In Norwegian (as in English), present tense can express a general, habitual truth:

Broren hennes er litt lat = Her brother is a bit lazy (in general, as a character trait).

It does not mean just right now; it normally describes what he is like as a person, unless context clearly limits it to the present moment.

The sentence has only one er and no second er before venter. Why is that?

Norwegian normally does not repeat the subject or verb in simple coordinated sentences when they are shared:

Broren hennes er litt lat og venter med å lese til siste dag.

You can think of it as:

Broren hennes er litt lat og (han) venter med å lese til siste dag.

The subject Broren hennes applies to both er and venter, and it is natural to avoid repeating it.

Adding han (og han venter …) is possible, but it changes the rhythm and can sound slightly heavier or more emphatic. The given version is nicely fluent and natural.