Learn Hardcore Norwegian: På plakaten står det at alle leietakere kan delta og vinne en liten premie. - On the poster it says that all tenants can participate and win a small prize.

Norwegian normally has verb in second position (the V2 rule). Whatever you put first (subject, time, place, etc.), the finite verb (here: står) has to come second.

«På plakaten står det at …»
- First element: På plakaten (adverbial of place)
- Second element: står (verb)
- Third element: det (dummy subject)
- Rest: at alle leietakere kan delta …
«Det står på plakaten at …»
- First element: Det (dummy subject)
- Second element: står (verb)
- Third: på plakaten (adverbial)
- Rest: at alle leietakere …

Meaning is basically the same.
With «På plakaten står det …» you put a little more emphasis on the poster itself. It sounds slightly more formal or written, and is very common in descriptions (like in textbooks, tasks, etc.).

What is the function of «det» in «står det at …»? Is it referring to anything?

In «På plakaten står det at alle leietakere kan delta …», the «det» is mostly a dummy subject (also called an expletive pronoun). It does not refer to a specific noun; it just fills the subject position, which Norwegian grammar requires.

You could think of it as similar to English “it” in sentences like:

It says here that …
It is written on the poster that …

When you have verbs like stå (stand), stå skrevet (be written), stå = “say” (in the sense of “the text says”), you often use det in this way:

Det står i avisen at … – It says in the newspaper that …
Det står på nettsiden at … – It says on the website that …

So here, «det» is grammatically necessary but doesn’t carry a concrete meaning by itself.

Why is it «På plakaten» with på, not «i plakaten» or some other preposition?

In Norwegian, text printed on a flat surface (poster, sign, wall, screen, etc.) usually takes på:

på plakaten – on the poster
på skiltet – on the sign
på veggen – on the wall
på skjermen – on the screen

«I» is used more for things that are inside something or in a container / enclosed space:

i boka – in the book
i avisen – in the newspaper (the publication as an object)
i rommet – in the room

But even for printed media, Norwegians switch prepositions depending on what they “picture”:

i avisen står det at … – literally “in the newspaper it says that …”
på forsiden står det at … – “on the front page it says that …”

For a poster (a flat surface you read from), the natural preposition is på.

Why is it «alle leietakere» without an article, not «alle de leietakerne»?

Norwegian often uses «alle + bare plural (indefinite)» to mean “all X, everyone who is an X” in a general way:

alle leietakere – all tenants / any tenants
alle studenter – all students
alle barn – all children

This is generic and doesn’t point to a specific, limited group that both speaker and listener have in mind.

If you say «alle de leietakerne», you’re making it definite, and it usually refers to a specific group of tenants that is already known in the context:

alle de leietakerne i dette bygget – all those tenants in this building
alle de leietakerne vi snakket om – all the tenants we talked about

On a general poster announcement, «alle leietakere» is natural because it means “all (the) tenants [of this place]” in a broad, open way, not “those exact, previously-mentioned tenants”.

What are the forms and gender of «leietaker»? How does the plural work?

Leietaker (“tenant”) is normally treated as a masculine noun in Bokmål:

Singular indefinite: en leietaker – a tenant
Singular definite: leietakeren – the tenant
Plural indefinite: leietakere – tenants
Plural definite: leietakerne – the tenants

So in the sentence:

alle leietakere = all tenants (indefinite plural)

You could also, in theory, use et leietakerforhold (“a tenancy”), but that is a different word and concept.

Note that you may also see the spelling leietaker / leier etc., but leietaker is standard and clear.

Is there any difference between «leietaker», «leieboer», and «leier»?

All can relate to someone who rents something, but they’re used a bit differently:

leietaker
- Very common, especially in contracts, legal and formal language.
- Neutral and standard for “tenant” (someone who rents a flat, office, etc.).
leieboer
- More traditional/older-sounding.
- Also means “tenant” / “lodger”, mainly for people renting where someone else lives.
leier
- From the verb å leie (to rent).
- As a noun, en leier can mean “the renter” or “the hirer”, but it’s less common as a standalone noun for “tenant” in modern everyday language.

On a modern poster in a building, «leietakere» is what you would expect.

How does «kan» work here? Why «kan delta og vinne» and not something with «å»?

«Kan» is a modal verb in Norwegian, like “can” in English. After modal verbs, you use the bare infinitive (infinitive without å):

kan delta – can participate
kan vinne – can win

So you say:

alle leietakere kan delta og vinne en liten premie
not
alle leietakere kan å delta og å vinne … (incorrect)

Other modal verbs behave the same:

må gå – must go
vil prøve – want to try
skal spise – will/shall eat
bør komme – should come

So «kan delta og vinne» is just modal verb + two infinitives, with å omitted after the modal (that’s normal).

Why can you say «delta og vinne» without any preposition like «delta i»? Isn’t it usually «delta i noe»?

Yes, normally:

delta i noe – participate in something
- delta i konkurransen – take part in the competition
- delta i møtet – participate in the meeting

But delta can also stand without its complement when the context already makes it clear what you’re participating in. Then the object is just understood:

Du kan delta og vinne en premie.
(We understand: delta [i konkurransen], delta [på arrangementet] etc.)

So in the poster sentence, the full implicit meaning is something like:

alle leietakere kan delta [i noe] og vinne en liten premie

The omitted part is clear enough from the situation (for example, a lottery or event described elsewhere on the poster), so Norwegian allows you to drop i + object.

Why is it «en liten premie» and not «et liten premie» or «en lite premie»?

There are two things to match here: noun gender and adjective form.

Premie is a masculine noun:
- en premie – a prize
- premien – the prize
The adjective liten (“small, little”) has special forms:
- Masculine singular: liten
- Feminine singular: lita (optional in Bokmål; many people just use liten for both)
- Neuter singular: lite
- Plural (all genders): små

So:

en liten premie – a small prize (masculine singular)
et lite hus – a small house (neuter singular)
små premier – small prizes (plural)

«et liten premie» is wrong, because premie isn’t neuter.
«en lite premie» is wrong, because lite is the neuter form, but en marks masculine.

Could you say «ei lita premie» instead of «en liten premie»?

No, that would be unusual/wrong in standard Bokmål, because premie is not normally treated as feminine:

Standard: en premie (masculine)
Feminine form ei premie is not used.

In Bokmål some nouns can be either en/ei (masculine or feminine), and then:

ei lita bok (book – often treated as feminine)
ei lita jente (girl – feminine)

But premie is not in that “optional feminine” group in normal usage. So you should stick with:

en liten premie – correct and natural

What is the function of «at» in «står det at alle leietakere kan delta …»?

Here «at» is a subordinating conjunction that introduces a content clause (a “that-clause”):

Det står at … – It says that …
Hun sier at … – She says that …
Vi vet at … – We know that …

So the structure is:

På plakaten står det
– On the poster it says
at alle leietakere kan delta og vinne en liten premie.
– that all tenants can participate and win a small prize.

The entire clause «at alle leietakere kan delta og vinne en liten premie» is the thing that is written on the poster.

Unlike English, Norwegian normally keeps «at»; you don’t drop it the way English can sometimes drop “that”:

Norwegian: Jeg tror at han kommer.
English: “I think (that) he is coming.”

Could you say «Plakaten sier at alle leietakere kan delta …» instead of «På plakaten står det …»?

Yes, you could, and it would be understood. But there is a slight nuance:

På plakaten står det at …
- Very natural and idiomatic when referring to written text on a poster, sign, etc.
- Literally: “On the poster it stands that …” = “It says on the poster that …”
Plakaten sier at …
- Grammatically fine, but more figurative (the poster is “speaking”).
- You might hear it, but it’s less common in neutral descriptions.

In neutral, descriptive language (like an exercise or an instruction), «På plakaten står det at …» is the standard, natural way to talk about what is written on the poster.

What is the word order inside the «at»-clause «at alle leietakere kan delta og vinne en liten premie»? Does V2 still apply?

Inside an «at»-clause, you do not use the V2 rule. Word order is generally:

Subject – (adverbials) – verb – rest

So in:

at alle leietakere kan delta og vinne en liten premie

we have:

alle leietakere – subject
kan – verb (modal)
delta og vinne en liten premie – rest (infinitive verbs + object)

Compare:

Hovedsetning (main clause, V2):
Alle leietakere kan delta. (subject first, verb second)
Leddsetning (subordinate clause with «at»):
… at alle leietakere kan delta.

The word order of the subject and verb looks the same here, but the key point is:
In subordinate clauses introduced by at, the finite verb stays after the subject; you don’t move it to second position after other elements, as you would in main clauses.