Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Husleien betales den første hver måned. - The rent is paid on the first of every month.

Husleie is the basic noun meaning rent (for a house/apartment).
Norwegian usually marks definiteness (the-word) with an ending, not with a separate word like English the.

en husleie = a rent (indefinite singular)
husleien = the rent (definite singular)

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific, known rent (your rent / the contract rent), so the definite form husleien is used: the rent is paid …

What grammatical role does husleien have in this sentence?

Husleien is the subject of the sentence.

The structure is:

Husleien (subject)
betales (verb, passive voice)
den første hver måned (adverbial phrase of time: when)

In English we also say “The rent is paid …”, where the rent is grammatically the subject, even though it is not the one doing the action. The same happens in Norwegian: husleien is the subject in a passive construction.

What does betales mean exactly, and how is it different from betaler?

Both forms come from the verb å betale (to pay).

betaler = pays / is paying (active voice)
- Vi betaler husleien. = We pay the rent.
betales = is paid / must be paid / shall be paid (passive voice)
- Husleien betales. = The rent is paid.

The -s ending is a common way to form the passive voice in Norwegian. It often has a somewhat impersonal or rule-like feel:

Husleien betales den første hver måned.
= “The rent is (to be) paid on the first of every month.”
(sounds like a contract rule or general arrangement)

Is betales a passive form, and how does this passive work in Norwegian?

Yes, betales is the present tense -s passive.

Norwegian has two main passive patterns:

-s passive (as in betales)
- Formed by adding -s to the verb:
  - betaler → betales
- Common in written language, signs, rules, instructions, contracts.
- Often expresses general rules, procedures, or habitual actions.
bli/å være + past participle
- Husleien blir betalt. = The rent is (gets) paid.
- Husleien er betalt. = The rent is paid (the payment is completed).

In your sentence, betales tells us that paying the rent is a regular, ongoing rule: this is when it (has to) happen every month.

Which tense is betales, and how can it talk about something that happens every month?

Betales is present tense passive.

In both English and Norwegian, the present tense is used for:

General facts and rules
Repeated / habitual actions

So:

Husleien betales den første hver måned.
= The rent is (always/typically) paid on the first of every month.

It doesn’t describe a single one‑time event; it describes a habitual rule.

What does den første literally mean, and why is there no word for “day”?

Den første literally means the first (ordinal number).

The full form would be something like:

den første dagen i måneden = the first day of the month

But in time expressions, Norwegian can leave out the word dag (day) when it’s clear:

den første = the first (day of the month)
den tiende = the tenth (day of the month)

So den første here means the first (day), with day understood from context.

Why is there no preposition like på or i before den første?

Norwegian often says just the date without a preposition:

Husleien betales den første.
= The rent is paid on the first.

You can see longer variants:

Husleien betales den første i hver måned.
Husleien betales den første hver måned. (your sentence)

Using på is less typical here in standard Bokmål; på den første can occur, but with dates the bare form den første is very common and natural.

So unlike English on the first, Norwegian usually just says den første in this kind of sentence.

What does hver måned mean exactly, and why not hver måneden?

hver = every / each
måned = month (indefinite singular)

Together:

hver måned = every month / each month

After hver, the noun stays indefinite singular (no article and no definite -en ending):

hver dag = every day
hver uke = every week
hver måned = every month
hver søndag = every Sunday

So hver måneden would be incorrect. You cannot combine hver with a definite form like måneden.

Could the word order be different? For example, can I move hver måned or den første?

The original:

Husleien betales den første hver måned.

This is the most natural order: [what] [verb] [when exactly] [how often].

Other possibilities:

Husleien betales hver måned den første.
– Grammatically possible, but sounds less natural and slightly clumsy.
Den første hver måned betales husleien.
– Also grammatically okay, but sounds quite formal or poetic and puts heavy emphasis on the time expression.

In everyday, neutral language, you would normally keep the original order:

Husleien betales den første hver måned.

Is this sentence formal? How would I say it in everyday spoken Norwegian?

The original sentence sounds neutral–formal, the kind of thing you might see:

in a contract,
in rental terms,
in an email or letter from a landlord.

In everyday conversation, Norwegians often use an active form and mention who pays:

Vi betaler husleia den første hver måned.
= We pay the rent on the first every month.

Notes:

husleia is an alternative definite form (see next question on gender).
Using vi makes it sound more personal and spoken, instead of the more “rule-like” passive husleien betales.

What gender is husleie, and why do I sometimes see husleia instead of husleien?

In Bokmål, husleie is usually treated as an en‑word (masculine):

en husleie (a rent)
husleien (the rent)

However, many en-words can also be treated as feminine in Bokmål, especially in spoken language. Then you get:

ei husleie (a rent)
husleia (the rent)

So both are accepted in Bokmål:

husleien (masculine definite form) – more standard/formal
husleia (feminine definite form) – very common in speech

Your sentence uses the masculine definite form husleien.

How do you pronounce the key words: husleien, betales, første, måned?

Approximate pronunciations (standard Eastern Norwegian style):

husleien ≈ HOOS-lay-en
- hus: like hoos in goose
- lei: like lay
- -en: like a quick en
betales ≈ beh-TAH-les
- be: like beh
- ta: like tah
- les: like less
første ≈ FØR-shteh
- ø: similar to the vowel in British bird or French peu
- rs is often pronounced a bit like English sh
- unstressed -te: a quick teh
måned ≈ MOH-ne(d)
- å: like aw in law or o in more
- final -d is often very weak or not pronounced in casual speech

These are just approximations, but they should be close enough to be understood.