Breakdown of Ektefellene støtter hverandre når livet er vanskelig.
Questions & Answers about Ektefellene støtter hverandre når livet er vanskelig.
Ektefellene means “the spouses”.
The base form (dictionary form) is ektefelle, which means “spouse” (gender‑neutral).
Full paradigm:
- ektefelle – a spouse (indefinite singular)
- ektefellen – the spouse (definite singular)
- ektefeller – spouses (indefinite plural)
- ektefellene – the spouses (definite plural)
In the sentence, ektefellene is the subject of the verb støtter.
Norwegian usually attaches the definite article to the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.
So:
- English: the spouses
- Norwegian: ektefellene (not de ektefeller)
The -ene ending on ektefellene already includes the meaning of “the” in the plural definite form.
You can add de in front only in special contexts (to emphasize or point out a specific group), e.g.:
- De ektefellene vi snakket om i går …
The spouses we talked about yesterday …
But in a neutral sentence like this, ektefellene alone is normal.
Hverandre means “each other / one another”.
It is a reciprocal pronoun: it shows that two or more people do something mutually to one another.
In Ektefellene støtter hverandre, it means:
- The spouses support each other (each spouse supports the other).
Other examples:
- Vi elsker hverandre. – We love each other.
- De hjelper hverandre med leksene. – They help each other with homework.
Both can translate to “each other / themselves” in English, but they are used differently:
seg is a reflexive pronoun: the subject acts on itself.
- Han støtter seg. – He supports himself (e.g. physically leaning on something).
hverandre is reciprocal: the subjects act on one another.
- Ektefellene støtter hverandre. – The spouses support each other.
So you cannot replace hverandre with seg here; it would change the meaning.
The verb is å støtte (to support). Its main forms:
- å støtte – infinitive (to support)
- støtter – present tense (support / are supporting)
- støttet – past tense (supported)
- har støttet – present perfect (have supported)
In this sentence, støtter is present tense, describing a general, habitual action:
- Ektefellene støtter hverandre …
→ The spouses support each other (whenever this situation occurs).
Norwegian present tense often covers English “support / are supporting / will support (in general)”, depending on context.
Because når livet er vanskelig is a subordinate clause (“when life is difficult”).
In Norwegian:
In main clauses, the verb usually goes in second position:
- Livet er vanskelig. – Life is difficult.
- I dag er livet vanskelig. – Today life is difficult.
In subordinate clauses (introduced by når, at, fordi, hvis, etc.), the word order is usually:
- [subordinator] + subject + verb + …
- når livet er vanskelig
(when life is difficult)
So når er livet vanskelig would be a question:
- Når er livet vanskelig? – When is life difficult?
In your sentence, it is not a question, so the correct order is når livet er vanskelig.
Liv means “life” in the indefinite form.
Livet means “the life” (definite singular).
Here, livet refers to life in general, and Norwegian often uses the definite form for general concepts like:
- Livet er kort. – Life is short.
- Været er fint i dag. – The weather is nice today.
So når livet er vanskelig is literally “when the life is difficult”, but idiomatically it matches “when life is difficult” in English.
Yes, når livet blir vanskelig is also correct, but there is a nuance:
når livet er vanskelig – when life *is difficult
Focus on the *state of life being difficult.når livet blir vanskelig – when life *becomes/gets difficult
Focus on the *change or the moment it turns difficult.
Both are natural; you choose depending on whether you want to emphasize the situation itself (er) or the transition into that situation (blir).
Norwegian main clauses usually follow a Subject–Verb–(Object) pattern:
- Ektefellene – subject
- støtter – verb
- hverandre – object (pronoun)
So:
- Ektefellene støtter hverandre.
This is the normal neutral order. You could move some elements for emphasis (for example, starting with a time phrase), but you still keep the verb in second position in a main clause:
- Når livet er vanskelig, støtter ektefellene hverandre.
(Subordinate clause first, then the main clause; støtter is still in second position in the main clause: støtter ektefellene …)
These differ mainly in gender and formality/legal status:
ektefelle
- gender‑neutral
- often used in legal / formal contexts
- means “spouse” (someone you are married to)
mann
- literally “man” / “husband”
- ektefelle (mann) = male spouse
kone
- “wife”
- ektefelle (kone) = female spouse
partner
- borrowed from English, gender‑neutral
- can be used for both married and unmarried couples
- often less formal, general “partner in a relationship”
In Ektefellene støtter hverandre …, the focus is on them as married spouses, not just as boy/girlfriend or partner.
Hverandre itself doesn’t have singular/plural forms; it always implies at least two people and means “each other”.
Verb forms in Norwegian don’t change with person or number the way English verbs do. The present tense is always støtter, regardless of:
- jeg støtter – I support
- du støtter – you support
- han/hun støtter – he/she supports
- vi støtter – we support
- de støtter – they support
So hverandre does not change the verb.
The subject ektefellene is plural, but støtter would look the same even if the subject were singular.
Yes, there is a possessive form hverandres, which means “each other’s”.
- Ektefellene respekterer hverandres grenser.
– The spouses respect each other’s boundaries.
Compare:
- hverandre → object of the verb
- Ektefellene støtter hverandre. – The spouses support each other.
- hverandres → possessive (something belongs to each other)
- Ektefellene respekterer hverandres meninger. – The spouses respect each other’s opinions.