Breakdown of Hun drømmer om å bli skuespiller når hun er ferdig med skolen.
Questions & Answers about Hun drømmer om å bli skuespiller når hun er ferdig med skolen.
In Norwegian, drømme almost always needs a preposition before an infinitive:
- drømme om noe = to dream of/about something (wishes, plans, or nighttime dreams)
- drømme om å + infinitive = to dream of doing something
So:
- Hun drømmer om å bli skuespiller = She dreams of becoming an actor.
Drømme å + infinitive is not normal Norwegian; the om is required here.
Compare:
- Jeg drømmer om å reise til Japan.
- Han drømmer om å kjøpe hus.
There is also drømme at (to dream that…), but that is used for what you saw in a dream:
- Jeg drømte at jeg fløy. = I dreamed that I was flying.
In your sentence we are talking about a wish for the future, so drømmer om å bli is the correct pattern.
Norwegian uses bli (become) when you talk about a change of state or something in the future that you are not yet:
- å bli skuespiller = to become an actor (she is not an actor yet)
- å være skuespiller = to be an actor (state of already being one)
In this sentence she is still at school and only dreams about the future career, so bli is natural.
More examples:
- Han vil bli lege. = He wants to become a doctor.
- Hun er lege. = She is a doctor.
- Jeg drømmer om å bli rik. = I dream of becoming rich.
Norwegian often uses the present tense to talk about the future, especially:
- with time expressions (tomorrow, next week, when…, etc.)
- in subordinate clauses introduced by når (when).
So:
- Hun drømmer om å bli skuespiller når hun er ferdig med skolen.
literally: …when she is finished with school, but the meaning is future: when she finishes school / when she has finished school.
This is very common and completely natural.
You could also say:
- …når hun blir ferdig med skolen.
- …når hun har fullført skolen.
But you would not normally say når hun skal være ferdig med skolen; that sounds unnatural. The simple present (er ferdig) is the standard choice here.
Ferdig med literally means finished with / done with something.
- Jeg er ferdig med middagen. = I am finished with dinner.
- Er du ferdig med leksene? = Are you done with your homework?
In this construction you cannot drop med:
- ❌ når hun er ferdig skolen = incorrect
- ✅ når hun er ferdig med skolen
If you want to avoid med, you need a different verb:
- når hun har fullført skolen = when she has completed school
- når hun er ferdig på skolen = when she is done at school (often today / this day)
But with ferdig, the preposition med is part of the normal pattern: ferdig med + noun.
In Norwegian you normally omit the indefinite article (en/ei/et) after bli and være when you talk about:
- professions
- nationalities
- religions
- certain roles/statuses
So you say:
- Hun vil bli skuespiller. = She wants to become an actor.
- Han er lærer. = He is a teacher.
- Jeg er norsk. = I am Norwegian.
Using an article here would sound wrong or at least very odd:
- ❌ Hun vil bli en skuespiller. (sounds unnatural in standard Norwegian)
So å bli skuespiller without an article is exactly what you want.
In Bokmål, skuespiller is normally a masculine (or common gender) noun:
- en skuespiller = an actor
- skuespilleren = the actor
- flere skuespillere = several actors
- skuespillerne = the actors
Some speakers may use ei skuespiller in very feminine-oriented contexts, but the standard and most common form is en skuespiller for any gender.
The choice is determined by the verb/adjective pattern, not just by the noun skolen.
- ferdig med noe is a fixed pattern: finished with something.
So:
- ferdig med skolen = finished with school (as a phase in life)
- ferdig med jobben = finished with the job
- ferdig med boka = finished with the book
På skolen means at school (location):
- Hun er på skolen. = She is at school.
You can say:
- Hun er ferdig på skolen klokka tre.
= She is done at school at three o’clock (done for the day, leaving the building).
But in your sentence we mean finished with her schooling/education, so ferdig med skolen is the correct and natural expression.
Because når hun er ferdig med skolen is a subordinate clause, not a main-question word order.
In Norwegian:
In main clauses, the verb is usually in second position (V2):
- Når er hun ferdig med skolen? = When is she finished with school? (this is a question)
In subordinate clauses (introduced by når, fordi, at, etc.), the normal order is:
- conjunction + subject + verb + rest
- når hun er ferdig med skolen = when she is finished with school
So in your sentence:
- Hun drømmer om å bli skuespiller (main clause)
- når hun er ferdig med skolen (subordinate time clause)
You only use når er hun … when you are asking a direct question.
No, not in standard Norwegian for this meaning.
The difference:
når:
- used for future and repeated/general times
- can be used in past as well, but then it usually means “whenever / when(ever)”
da:
- used for a single, specific event in the past
- never used for the future
Your sentence is about the future, so you must use når:
- ✅ Hun drømmer om å bli skuespiller når hun er ferdig med skolen.
Examples for da in the past:
- Da hun var liten, ville hun bli skuespiller.
= When she was little, she wanted to become an actor. - Da hun var ferdig med skolen, flyttet hun til Oslo.
= When she finished school, she moved to Oslo.
So, for future time: når, not da.
Yes, you can say:
- Hun skal bli skuespiller når hun er ferdig med skolen.
But it changes the meaning a bit:
Hun drømmer om å bli skuespiller …
= She dreams of becoming an actor (a wish, a hope; it may or may not happen).Hun skal bli skuespiller …
= She is going to / will become an actor (sounds more like a plan or something decided).
So:
- Use drømmer om å bli to talk about dreams, wishes, or ambitions.
- Use skal bli to talk about intentions or (sometimes) firm plans.
Both are grammatically correct; you just choose depending on the nuance you want.