Learn Hardcore Norwegian: I dag er treneren fornøyd med laget. - Today the coach is satisfied with the team.

You do sometimes see idag as one word, especially informally online, but the recommended and most correct form in Bokmål is i dag (two words). If you’re writing for school, exams, or anything formal, use i dag.

Can I also say Treneren er fornøyd med laget i dag? Is the word order flexible?

Yes, you can say:

I dag er treneren fornøyd med laget.
Treneren er fornøyd med laget i dag.

Both are correct.

The difference is mostly about emphasis:

I dag er treneren fornøyd med laget.
Emphasizes today: maybe usually the coach is not satisfied, but today is special.
Treneren er fornøyd med laget i dag.
Neutral statement: “The coach is satisfied with the team today.” The focus is a bit more on the coach.

Grammatically, Norwegian main clauses want the verb in second position (the “V2 rule”). When you start with an adverbial like i dag, the verb must come next:

I dag er treneren … ✅
I dag treneren er … ❌ (incorrect word order)

Why is it treneren and not just trener?

Norwegian usually marks “the” by adding a suffix to the noun instead of having a separate word like English the.

en trener = a coach
treneren = the coach

So in your sentence, treneren means the coach.

If you said:

I dag er trener fornøyd med laget.

that would sound wrong, because you’re missing the definite ending -en. You need treneren here.

Why is it laget and not lagen or lagetet?

The noun lag (team) is neuter gender in Norwegian.

Indefinite: et lag = a team
Definite: laget = the team

So:

I dag er treneren fornøyd med laget.
= Today the coach is satisfied with the team.

-et is the definite ending for many neuter nouns:

et hus → huset (a house → the house)
et språk → språket (a language → the language)
et lag → laget (a team → the team)

What exactly does med mean here in fornøyd med laget?

Literally, med means with, but in this phrase it’s more about the object of the satisfaction:

fornøyd med noe(n) = satisfied with something/someone

Compare with English:

happy with the team
pleased with the result
satisfied with the service

Norwegian uses med in the same way:

fornøyd med laget (happy/pleased with the team)
fornøyd med resultatet (pleased with the result)
fornøyd med innsatsen (pleased with the effort)

So med laget is a normal complement to fornøyd.

Does fornøyd change form to agree with treneren? What about plural?

Fornøyd is an adjective. In this sentence it’s used predicatively (after the verb er).

For adjectives like fornøyd, the pattern in Bokmål is:

Singular (no gender difference):
- han er fornøyd (he is satisfied)
- hun er fornøyd (she is satisfied)
- barnet er fornøyd (the child is satisfied)
- treneren er fornøyd (the coach is satisfied)
Plural:
- de er fornøyde (they are satisfied)
- trenerne er fornøyde (the coaches are satisfied)

So in your sentence, fornøyd matches a single subject: treneren.

If you had a plural subject, you’d change it:

I dag er trenerne fornøyde med laget.
(Today the coaches are satisfied with the team.)

What’s the difference between fornøyd and fornøgd?

Both mean satisfied / pleased, but:

fornøyd is standard Bokmål.
fornøgd is more common in Nynorsk and in some dialects.

So for standard Bokmål writing (which this sentence uses: treneren, laget), you should stick to fornøyd:

I dag er treneren fornøyd med laget. ✅ (Bokmål)
I dag er trenaren fornøgd med laget. ✅ (Nynorsk)

Why is it er and not blir or a past tense like var?

Er is the present tense of å være (to be), so it describes a current state:

er fornøyd = is (currently) satisfied

Some alternatives and what they mean:

I dag var treneren fornøyd med laget.
= Today, the coach was satisfied with the team (past event, already over).
I dag blir treneren fornøyd med laget.
= Today, the coach is becoming / will be satisfied with the team (change of state, more about the process or future result).

In your sentence, er simply states the situation now.

How would I turn this into a yes/no question?

For a yes/no question, Norwegian usually puts the verb first, then the subject:

Statement: I dag er treneren fornøyd med laget.
Question: Er treneren fornøyd med laget i dag?

You can keep i dag at the end (most natural here), or put it first for extra emphasis:

Er treneren fornøyd med laget i dag? ✅
I dag, er treneren fornøyd med laget? ✅ (spoken, with a pause; slightly more dramatic/emphatic)

Can I drop i dag or move it around more?

Yes. I dag is an adverbial of time; it’s optional and movable.

All of these are grammatical (slightly different emphasis):

Treneren er fornøyd med laget.
(The coach is satisfied with the team – no time specified.)
Treneren er i dag fornøyd med laget.
(More written/formal; emphasizes “today” in the middle of the sentence.)
I dag er treneren fornøyd med laget.
(Emphasizes “today”; very natural.)
Treneren er fornøyd med laget i dag.
(Neutral, common in speech.)

The main rule is simply: in a main clause, the finite verb must stay in second position. Wherever you put i dag, keep that in mind.

How do I pronounce i dag, treneren, fornøyd, and laget?

Very rough English-based approximations (actual Norwegian sounds are a bit different and vary by dialect):

i dag
- i ≈ “ee” in see
- dag ≈ “daag” (like “dog” but with a long a and a softer g)
  Whole: ee daag
treneren
- tre ≈ “tray” (but with a short e in many accents)
- ner ≈ “ner” (like “nair” without the diphthong)
- en ≈ a very quick, weak “en”
  Whole: roughly TRAY-ner-en (stress on the first syllable)
fornøyd
- for ≈ “for” (but often shorter, like “fohr”)
- nøyd ≈ one syllable, like “noyd” with a rounded “oi”
  Whole: for-NOYD (stress on nøyd)
laget
- la ≈ “laa” (as in “lad” but with a long a)
- get ≈ very soft “get”; often the g is soft and the t can be weak
  Whole: roughly LAA-get (stress on la-)

How would I say “Today the coach is satisfied with the players” or “with the teams”?

You can use the same structure and just change the noun:

I dag er treneren fornøyd med spillerne.
= Today the coach is satisfied with the players.
- en spiller → spilleren (the player) → spillerne (the players)
I dag er treneren fornøyd med lagene.
= Today the coach is satisfied with the teams.
- et lag → laget (the team) → lagene (the teams)

And if there are multiple coaches:

I dag er trenerne fornøyde med laget.
(Today the coaches are satisfied with the team.)
Note the plural subject trenerne and plural adjective fornøyde.