Breakdown of Om vinteren går vi på ski i en skiløype ved siden av turstien.
Questions & Answers about Om vinteren går vi på ski i en skiløype ved siden av turstien.
Norwegian normally uses om with seasons to talk about what happens regularly during that season:
- Om vinteren går vi på ski. – In (the) winter, we go skiing (every winter / generally in winter).
- Om sommeren bader vi. – In (the) summer, we swim.
Using i vinteren is not idiomatic in this sense. You might see i vinter without the -en to refer to this past winter (a specific winter):
- I vinter var det mye snø. – This past winter, there was a lot of snow.
På vinteren is sometimes heard (especially in some dialects or casual speech), but om vinteren is the standard and most natural choice for “in (the) winter” in a habitual/general sense.
Yes. Both of these are correct and natural:
- Om vinteren går vi på ski i en skiløype ved siden av turstien.
- Vi går på ski i en skiløype ved siden av turstien om vinteren.
The meaning is the same. In Norwegian, you can often move time expressions (like om vinteren) to the front of the sentence for emphasis or style.
Just remember the V2 rule (verb in second position):
When you start with om vinteren, the finite verb (går) must come second:
- Om vinteren (1st position) går (2nd position) vi på ski …
In Norwegian, the normal way to say “to ski / to go skiing” is the expression å gå på ski:
- Vi går på ski. – We go skiing.
Literally it looks like “we walk on skis,” but this is just an idiomatic expression. You do not normally say vi skier in standard Norwegian.
There is a verb å gå på ski as a whole phrase; learners just treat it as “the verb for skiing.” Other similar expressions:
- å gå på skøyter – to go ice skating
- å gå på tur – to go hiking / for a walk
So går here is part of a fixed phrase, not simply “walking” as opposed to driving.
På ski literally means “on skis.” Norwegian often uses på (“on”) with modes of movement where in English you might say “on” or “by”:
- å gå på ski – to go (on) skis = to go skiing
- å gå på skøyter – to skate (on skates)
- å sykle på sykkel – to cycle (on a bike)
Using i ski would sound wrong; you are not “in” the skis but “on” them, so the preposition på is the natural choice.
Norwegian normally uses:
- i en skiløype – in a ski track (literally “inside the prepared track”)
- på en løype can sometimes occur in speech, but i en skiløype is the standard and most idiomatic.
The idea is that the track is like a path or corridor you move in, not a surface you stand on. That’s why i is preferred here, while på ski describes being on the skis themselves.
A skiløype is more specific than just “a place to ski”:
- ski – ski
- løype – track, trail, (prepared) course
So en skiløype is a prepared ski track/trail, usually cross‑country, where the snow has been groomed or pressed so you can ski more easily. It’s not just any random snowy area; it’s a marked or prepared route for skiing.
Norwegian has indefinite and definite noun forms. In your sentence:
- en skiløype – indefinite: a ski trail
- turstien – definite: the hiking trail
So literally the sentence is:
- Om vinteren går vi på ski i en skiløype ved siden av turstien.
→ “In winter we go skiing in a ski trail next to the hiking trail.”
You use en before skiløype because you are referring to some ski trail, not a specific one already known in the conversation.
You use the definite form turstien because it is a specific hiking trail that the speaker expects you to know or can easily identify (for example “the hiking path near our house”).
Skiløype is feminine in origin, but in Bokmål you can treat it as either feminine or common gender (masculine‑like). Both are accepted:
- Indefinite singular: en skiløype (or ei skiløype)
- Definite singular: skiløypa (feminine) or skiløypen (masculine form; less common in practice)
- Indefinite plural: skiløyper
- Definite plural: skiløypene
In your sentence, en skiløype uses the common‑gender article, which is very typical in written Bokmål.
Tursti is common gender:
- Indefinite singular: en tursti – a hiking trail
- Definite singular: turstien – the hiking trail
- Indefinite plural: turstier – hiking trails
- Definite plural: turstiene – the hiking trails
Ved siden av is a fixed expression meaning “next to / beside.” It is made of small words, but learners can treat it as one multi‑word preposition:
- ved – by, at
- siden (av) – the side (of)
Together, ved siden av means:
- ved siden av turstien – next to the hiking trail / beside the hiking trail
It always takes something after it (usually in the definite form):
- ved siden av huset – next to the house
- ved siden av bilen – next to the car
Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things:
- ved siden av turstien – next to the hiking trail (a specific one, known or identifiable)
- ved siden av en tursti – next to a hiking trail (some unspecified hiking trail)
In the original sentence, the context suggests a specific, familiar trail (for example, the local hiking trail everyone knows), so the definite form turstien is natural.
It’s not the preposition ved siden av itself that forces the definite form; it’s the meaning (specific vs. nonspecific) that decides whether you use definite or indefinite.
Yes. Norwegian simple present often expresses:
- habitual actions (things you usually do)
- general truths
- ongoing actions (depending on context)
The phrase om vinteren (in winter) strongly suggests a repeated, habitual action:
- Om vinteren går vi på ski … – In winter, we (usually / often / always) go skiing …
So the present tense here is understood as a regular habit, not something happening right now at this exact moment.
Yes, that is perfectly correct:
- Vi går på ski i skiløypa ved siden av turstien.
Now skiløypa (definite) means the ski trail instead of a ski trail. So:
- i en skiløype – in a ski trail (non‑specific)
- i skiløypa – in the ski trail (a specific one you have in mind)
The choice between en skiløype and skiløypa depends on whether you are talking about some ski trail or a particular, known ski trail.