Learn Hardcore Norwegian: De skal gifte seg til sommeren, og bryllupet planlegges hjemme. - They are going to get married this summer, and the wedding is being planned at home.

skal + infinitive
Often used for:
- Planned events: De skal reise i morgen. – They’re travelling tomorrow.
- Arrangements / scheduled things: Møtet skal begynne klokka 10. – The meeting is to start at 10.
Compared to other future-like forms:
- kommer til å gifte seg – more like “will end up getting married / will probably get married” (prediction).
- vil gifte seg – more like “want(s) to get married” or “is/are willing to get married” (desire/volition).

So in this sentence, “skal” presents it as a fixed plan, much like English present continuous (They’re getting married this summer).

Why do we say "gifte seg" and not just "gifte"?

In Norwegian, "å gifte seg" is a reflexive verb meaning “to get married”.

gifte seg = to get married
- De skal gifte seg. – They are going to get married.
- Hun vil gifte seg med ham. – She wants to marry him / get married to him.

Without seg, gifte is transitive and means something like “to marry (someone, as the officiant or person performing the ceremony)”:

Presten gifta paret. – The priest married the couple.

So:

Correct: De skal gifte seg til sommeren.
Wrong: *De skal gifte til sommeren. (sounds incomplete/ungrammatical)

In everyday speech about people getting married, you almost always need the reflexive: gifte seg.

What exactly does "til sommeren" mean, literally and idiomatically?

Literally, "til sommeren" is “to the summer”, but idiomatically it means:

“this coming summer / in the summer that is coming”

It refers to the next upcoming summer from the speaker’s perspective.

Comparison with similar expressions:

til sommeren
- Upcoming summer.
- Vi drar til Italia til sommeren. – We’re going to Italy this coming summer.
i sommer
- This summer (either the current summer or the one just passed, depending on context).
- I sommer var vi i Italia. – This summer we were in Italy.
om sommeren
- In (the) summer / in summer(s) as a general habit, every summer.
- Vi drar ofte til Italia om sommeren. – We often go to Italy in (the) summer.

So "til sommeren" is about a specific, upcoming summer, not a habitual action and not the past.

Why is it "sommeren" (definite form) and not just "sommer"?

Norwegian often uses the definite form of seasons when referring to this coming or that particular season:

til sommeren – this coming summer
i sommeren – less common; usually you’d say i sommer instead
til våren – this coming spring
til høsten – this coming autumn
til vinteren – this coming winter

Using the definite form ties the season to a specific, known time period in context: the summer we’re talking about.

So:

til sommeren – this (specific) coming summer
til sommer – sounds wrong/unidiomatic in standard Norwegian

What’s going on with the word order "bryllupet planlegges hjemme"?

The clause "bryllupet planlegges hjemme" follows normal main-clause word order:

Subject: bryllupet (the wedding)
Finite verb: planlegges (is being planned)
Adverbial: hjemme (at home)

Norwegian main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb is in second position.

Here the structure is:

[1st position] Subject: Bryllupet
[2nd position] Finite verb: planlegges
Then: hjemme (adverbial of place)

You could change the emphasis:

Hjemme planlegges bryllupet. – At home, the wedding is being planned. (focus on hjemme)

But the basic order subject–verb–adverbial is exactly what we expect here.

What kind of form is "planlegges"? How is this passive formed?

"Planlegges" is the -s passive (also called the s-passive) of the verb "å planlegge" (to plan).

Formation:

Infinitive: (å) planlegge – to plan
Active present: planlegger – plans / is planning
Passive present: planlegges – is planned / is being planned

In general, for many verbs:

Stem + -s → passive
- skriver → skrives (is written)
- lager → lages (is made)

Meaning:

bryllupet planlegges = the wedding is being planned / the wedding is planned
The agent (the person doing the planning) is not mentioned.

Alternative passive:

bli + past participle:
- Bryllupet blir planlagt hjemme. – also The wedding is being planned at home.

Both planlegges and blir planlagt are correct; the -s passive is often shorter and a bit more formal or neutral.

Why is the verb "planlegges" in the present tense if the wedding is in the future?

The planning is happening now, even though the wedding is in the future.

Bryllupet planlegges hjemme.
Literal: The wedding is (being) planned at home.
→ The process of planning is ongoing in the present.

Norwegian frequently uses the present tense to talk about:

Ongoing actions now
- Jeg skriver en e-post. – I am writing an email.
Arranged future events (often with a time expression)
- Vi reiser i morgen. – We’re leaving tomorrow.

In this sentence, it’s mainly present ongoing: the planning is taking place now, for an event that will happen til sommeren.

Why is it "bryllupet" (the wedding) and not "et bryllup" (a wedding)?

We use "bryllupet" (definite form) because the sentence is referring to a specific wedding that has just been introduced.

The structure is:

De skal gifte seg til sommeren
→ We now know that they will have a wedding.
og bryllupet planlegges hjemme
→ the wedding (namely, their wedding we just mentioned) is being planned at home.

This is a common pattern in Norwegian (and English):

Introduce something in a more general way (they’re getting married)
Then refer back to it in the definite form (the wedding).

If you said "et bryllup planlegges hjemme", it would sound like:

A wedding is being planned at home (some wedding, not clearly linked to the people just mentioned).

Using bryllupet makes it clear it’s their specific wedding.

What is the difference between "hjem" and "hjemme"? Why is it "planlegges hjemme" here?

"Hjem" and "hjemme" both relate to home, but:

hjem = direction (to home)
- Jeg går hjem. – I’m going home (towards home).
- Vi kjører hjem nå. – We’re driving home now.
hjemme = location (at home)
- Jeg er hjemme. – I’m at home.
- Vi jobber hjemme i dag. – We’re working at home today.

In the sentence:

bryllupet planlegges hjemme
→ The wedding is being planned *at home.*

We are talking about where the planning happens (location), so hjemme is correct.

Could I say "De gifter seg til sommeren" without "skal"? Is that different?

Yes, "De gifter seg til sommeren" is also possible and natural.

Comparison:

De skal gifte seg til sommeren.
→ Future plan, often translated as They’re going to get married this summer / They’re getting married this summer.
De gifter seg til sommeren.
→ Also future, but uses the simple present; feels like a scheduled, fixed event.
Similar to English: They get married this summer (as in That’s when the wedding is).

Nuance difference is small; both usually describe a firm future arrangement. "Skal gifte seg" is slightly more explicit about intention/plan, but in everyday speech they’re largely interchangeable here.

What would "De skal bli gift til sommeren" mean? Is that correct?

"Å bli gift" usually means “to become married”, focusing more on the resulting state of being married.

De skal bli gift til sommeren.
This is grammatically possible, but sounds a bit odd or overly literal in everyday Norwegian, like stressing the state of being married by summer.

For natural Norwegian, when talking about a wedding date, you almost always say:

De skal gifte seg til sommeren.
De gifter seg til sommeren.

Use "gifte seg" for getting married (the event), not "bli gift" in this context.

How does the reflexive pronoun "seg" change with different subjects in "gifte seg"?

The reflexive pronoun must agree with the subject. For "å gifte seg":

jeg – gifter meg
- Jeg skal gifte meg til sommeren. – I’m getting married this summer.
du – gifter deg
- Skal du gifte deg? – Are you going to get married?
han / hun / den / det / man – gifter seg
- Hun gifter seg neste år. – She’s getting married next year.
vi – gifter oss
- Vi gifter oss i juni. – We’re getting married in June.
dere – gifter dere
- Gifter dere dere i kirken? – Are you getting married in the church?
de – gifter seg
- De skal gifte seg til sommeren. – They’re getting married this summer.

So in the original sentence, "De skal gifte seg" uses seg because the subject is de (they).