Vi tenner lampen i stuen.

We turn on the lamp in the living room.

Breakdown of Vi tenner lampen i stuen.

• vi: we
• i: in
• stuen: the living room
• lampen: the lamp
• tenne: to turn on

Questions & Answers about Vi tenner lampen i stuen.

What exactly does tenner mean here? Is it “light” or “turn on”?

Tenner is the present tense of å tenne, which basically means to light (to make something give light).

Traditionally, å tenne is used for things that burn or glow:

• å tenne et lys – to light a candle
• å tenne et bål – to light a bonfire

With lamps, it can mean:

• to light the lamp (if it’s a candle/oil lamp), or
• more generally to turn on the lamp.

In everyday speech, Norwegians very often say:

• å skru på lyset – to turn on the light
• å slå på lampen – to switch on the lamp

So Vi tenner lampen i stuen is correct and understandable, but in modern, casual contexts you will also hear:

• Vi skrur på lampen i stuen.
• Vi skrur på lyset i stuen.

Why is it lampen and not just lampe?

Lampe is the indefinite form (a lamp), and lampen is the definite form (the lamp).

Basic pattern (Bokmål, masculine/feminine noun):

• en lampe – a lamp (indefinite singular)
• lampen – the lamp (definite singular)
• lamper – lamps (indefinite plural)
• lampene – the lamps (definite plural)

So:

• Vi tenner en lampe i stuen. – We light a lamp in the living room. (unspecified)
• Vi tenner lampen i stuen. – We light the lamp in the living room. (a specific, known lamp)

In Norwegian, the definite article is attached to the end of the noun (here, -en), instead of being a separate word like the in English.

But why isn’t there a separate word for the, like in English?

Norwegian usually shows definiteness by adding an ending to the noun, not by adding a separate word:

• en lampe – a lamp
• lampen – the lamp

So the -en ending is doing the job of English the.

In some contexts, you can add a demonstrative on top of that:

• den lampen – that lamp / this lamp (literally that the-lamp)

Here, den adds a pointing meaning (that/this), while -en keeps the definiteness.

In your sentence, it is just lampen because we mean the lamp in a normal, non-emphatic way, not that lamp.

What is the infinitive of tenner, and how does the verb form work?

The infinitive is å tenne (to light).

Conjugation (Bokmål, regular pattern):

• å tenne – to light
• jeg/du/han/vi/de tenner – I/you/he/we/they light / are lighting (present)
• jeg tente – I lit (past)
• jeg har tent – I have lit (present perfect)

So:

• Vi tenner lampen i stuen. – We light / We are lighting the lamp in the living room.

Norwegian generally uses the simple present for both English simple present and present continuous, so vi tenner can mean both we light and we are lighting, depending on context.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Vi tenner i stuen lampen or I stuen tenner vi lampen?

• Vi tenner lampen i stuen. is the normal word order:
  Subject – Verb – Object – Place
  (Vi – tenner – lampen – i stuen)

• Vi tenner i stuen lampen. is not natural in standard Norwegian.

You can move the place phrase to the front:

• I stuen tenner vi lampen. – In the living room, we light the lamp.

This is grammatically correct and used for emphasis on place (we are talking specifically about what happens in the living room).

So:

• Neutral: Vi tenner lampen i stuen.
• Emphasis on place: I stuen tenner vi lampen.

Why is it i stuen and not på stuen? What is the rule for i vs på here?

I generally means in / inside something, while på is more on / at / on top of.

For rooms and enclosed spaces, Norwegian normally uses i:

• i stuen – in the living room
• i kjøkkenet or på kjøkkenet – in the kitchen / in the kitchen (both heard; på kjøkkenet is very common colloquially)
• i bilen – in the car

So i stuen clearly means inside the living room.

You may hear some dialects say på stua to mean in the living room, but standard Bokmål is i stuen.

What is the difference between stue, stuen, and stua?

All are forms of the same noun:

• stue – living room (indefinite form)
• stuen – the living room (definite, -en form)
• stua – the living room (definite, -a form)

In Bokmål, many feminine nouns can have two definite forms:

• en stue – stuen
  or
• ei stue – stua

Usage:

• stuen sounds a bit more formal/standard.
• stua is very common in everyday, spoken language and in more informal writing.

Your sentence with a more colloquial flavour could be:

• Vi tenner lampen i stua. – We turn on the lamp in the living room.

Does lampe mean “light” as in “turn on the light”, or is that a different word in Norwegian?

Lampe is primarily a physical lamp (the object).

Lys is light (both the phenomenon and often the thing you turn on):

• å skru på lyset – to turn on the light
• Lyset er på. – The light is on.
• Lyset er av. – The light is off.

In practice:

• Vi tenner lampen i stuen. – We light/turn on the lamp in the living room.
• Vi skrur på lyset i stuen. – We turn on the light in the living room.

Both are natural, but lyset is more common when talking about turning lights on and off in a room generally.

How do you pronounce Vi tenner lampen i stuen?

Very roughly (English-style approximation):

• Vi – like vee
• tenner – like TEN-ner (short e, and double n makes the n sound longer)
• lampen – like LAM-pen (short a, as in father but shorter)
• i – like ee
• stuen – like STOO-en, but with the u more to the front of the mouth than English oo

A simple phonetic guide:

• Vi tenner lampen i stuen ≈ vee TEN-ner LAM-pen ee STUE-en

In IPA (one possible eastern Norwegian pronunciation):

• [vi ˈtɛnːər ˈlɑmpən i ˈstʉːən]

How would I say “We are lighting the lamp in the living room now” in Norwegian?

You normally still use the simple present and add nå (now):

• Vi tenner lampen i stuen nå. – We are lighting the lamp in the living room now.

You can also move nå:

• Nå tenner vi lampen i stuen. – Now we are lighting the lamp in the living room.

Norwegian usually does not need a separate progressive form like are lighting; tenner covers both light and are lighting, and nå adds the sense of “right now”.