Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Galleriet ligger nær stasjonen, og flere malerier henges opp hver uke. - The gallery is located near the station, and several paintings are hung up every week.

ligger – lies / is situated (for things that “lie” somewhere, like buildings, cities, objects)
står – stands (for upright things like lamps, bottles, some buildings)
sitter – sits (for people/animals sitting, or things that “sit” on top of something)

When you talk about where a building or place is located, ligger is the normal, idiomatic choice:

Galleriet ligger nær stasjonen. – The gallery is (situated) near the station.
Oslo ligger i Norge. – Oslo is in Norway.

You could say Galleriet er nær stasjonen, but it sounds less natural. Er is more neutral and less specific; ligger is what Norwegians naturally use for the location of places on a map or in space.

Why is it Galleriet with -et, and not Gallerien or Galleri?

The noun galleri is neuter in Norwegian (grammatical gender: intetkjønn).

Indefinite singular: et galleri – a gallery
Definite singular: galleriet – the gallery
Indefinite plural: gallerier – galleries
Definite plural: galleriene – the galleries

So:

Galleriet ligger … = The gallery is (situated) …

If galleri were masculine or feminine, the definite form would end in -en or -a, but since it’s neuter, it takes -et.

Why is it nær stasjonen and not something like ved stasjonen or i nærheten av stasjonen?

All three are possible, but they differ slightly:

nær stasjonen
- Literally near the station, close but not necessarily right next to it.
- Neutral, fairly short, and common in writing.
ved stasjonen
- More like by the station / at the station / right by the station.
- Often suggests being very close, almost adjacent.
i nærheten av stasjonen
- Literally in the vicinity of the station.
- Slightly longer and a bit more “formal” or descriptive.

In this sentence, nær is a natural, concise choice to say that the gallery is located near the station without specifying exact distance.

Why is it stasjonen and not just stasjon or en stasjon?

Norwegian uses the definite form (the “the”-form) when both speaker and listener can identify which place is meant:

stasjon – station (general concept)
en stasjon – a station (any station)
stasjonen – the station (a specific one both know about)

In context, you usually talk about the local or main station that everyone in the situation would recognize:

Galleriet ligger nær stasjonen.
→ Most naturally understood as the local/central station.

Using nær en stasjon would mean “near a station” (any station, not a specific one), which would sound odd if you are talking about a real, known place in a town.

What exactly does flere mean in flere malerier? Is it the same as many?

Flere can mean:

several / a number of
- Det henger flere malerier på veggen. – There are several paintings on the wall.
more (than before / than something else)
- Vi trenger flere malerier. – We need more paintings.

Compared with other quantity words:

mange malerier – many paintings (a lot)
flere malerier – several paintings or more paintings
noen malerier – some / a few paintings
få malerier – few paintings (not many)

In the sentence flere malerier henges opp hver uke, flere is best read as “several” (and possibly also “more and more over time”).

Why is it malerier and not malerierne or something else?

The noun maleri (painting) is also neuter:

Indefinite singular: et maleri – a painting
Definite singular: maleriet – the painting
Indefinite plural: malerier – paintings
Definite plural: maleriene – the paintings

So flere malerier = several paintings (indefinite plural).

If you wanted to say the paintings, you would use:

De nye maleriene henges opp hver uke. – The new paintings are hung up every week.

-erne is not a standard Norwegian plural ending for this kind of word; here the correct definite plural is maleriene.

What is going on grammatically in henges opp? Why not just henger?

Henges opp is the passive voice of the verb henge opp (to hang up):

Active:
- De henger opp malerier. – They hang up paintings.
Passive:
- Malerier henges opp. – Paintings are hung up.

Details:

henge opp = to hang up (put something so it is hanging)
henges = present passive of henge (with the -s passive ending)
opp is a particle, so henges opp stays together.

Henger (without opp) usually means “is hanging” (a state), not “is being hung up” (an action):

Maleriet henger på veggen. – The painting is hanging on the wall. (already there)
Maleriet henges opp nå. – The painting is being hung up now. (the action)

So henges opp describes the action of putting paintings up on the walls, not their final state.

Could we also say blir hengt opp or er hengt opp instead of henges opp? What is the difference?

Yes, both are grammatically correct, but they have different nuances:

henges opp – are hung up (general, process-focused, quite neutral in writing)
- Flere malerier henges opp hver uke.
  → Regular, repeated action, somewhat formal/written style.
blir hengt opp – are being hung up / get hung up
- Flere malerier blir hengt opp hver uke.
  → Also a repeated process; this is very common in everyday speech and feels less formal.
er hengt opp – have been hung up / are (already) hung up
- Flere malerier er hengt opp.
  → Focuses on the resulting state: now they are up.

For a neutral description of something that happens regularly, both henges opp and blir hengt opp are fine; henges opp is a bit more typical in written Norwegian.

Why does the sentence use the present tense for something that happens every week? Could we use a different tense?

Norwegian uses the simple present for:

Actions happening now
Actions that happen regularly/repeatedly
General truths

So:

Flere malerier henges opp hver uke.
= Several paintings are hung up every week.

This is the natural way to talk about a habitual or regular action. A different tense would change the meaning:

ble hengt opp hver uke – were hung up every week (in the past)
skal henges opp hver uke – will be hung up every week (in the future)

For an ongoing routine in the present, the standard is present tense + time expression (here: hver uke).

Why is it hver uke and not hver uken or something like that?

After hver (each/every), the noun stays in the indefinite singular:

hver uke – every week
hver dag – every day
hver kveld – every evening
hver måned – every month

You do not use the definite form here:

✗ hver uken
✗ hver dagen

So the correct form is hver uke.

Why is there a comma before og in …, og flere malerier henges opp hver uke? Is that required in Norwegian?

You have two main clauses:

Galleriet ligger nær stasjonen
flere malerier henges opp hver uke

They are joined by og (and). In Norwegian:

It is allowed to put a comma between two main clauses joined by og.
In modern usage, it is quite common to omit the comma if the clauses are short and closely connected.

So both of these are acceptable:

Galleriet ligger nær stasjonen, og flere malerier henges opp hver uke.
Galleriet ligger nær stasjonen og flere malerier henges opp hver uke.

The version with the comma makes the structure clearer, especially in written, more formal text.