Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Bussen går fortere om morgenen enn om kvelden. - The bus goes faster in the morning than in the evening.

So Bussen går fortere … is like saying “The bus runs/goes faster …”. It doesn’t mean the bus is “walking”; it’s just the normal verb for how a route or a service operates.

You can also say Bussen kjører fortere …, but går sounds a bit more neutral and is very common in this kind of sentence.

What exactly is fortere, and why not mer fort?

Fortere is the comparative form of fort (“fast / quickly”).

Pattern:

positive: fort – fast / quickly
comparative: fortere – faster / more quickly
superlative: fortest – fastest / most quickly

For short, common adjectives/adverbs like fort, Norwegian normally adds -ere for the comparative, not mer:

rask → raskere (faster)
stor → større (bigger)

Mer fort sounds wrong or at best very unusual. Use fortere.
You could also use the synonym raskere (“faster”), but fortere is perfectly natural here.

Is fortere an adjective or an adverb in this sentence?

Here fortere is an adverb, because it describes how the bus går (goes).

Norwegian often uses the same form for the adjective and the adverb in comparatives:

adjective: en fort bil (not used; you’d normally say rask bil)
adverb: Bussen går fortere. – The bus goes faster.

So in this sentence, think of fortere as “more quickly / faster” modifying the verb går.

Why do we say om morgenen and om kvelden? What does om mean here?

The preposition om literally can mean “about” or “around”, but in time expressions like this it means “in / during (the)”.

Common patterns:

om morgenen – in the morning(s)
om dagen – in the daytime
om kvelden – in the evening(s)
om natten – at night

These are set expressions that describe a general, repeated time of day. So Bussen går fortere om morgenen is about what usually happens in the mornings, not on one single morning.

Why are morgenen and kvelden in the definite form (-en)?

In Norwegian, the definite article (“the”) is usually attached to the end of the noun:

en morgen – a morning
morgenen – the morning
en kveld – an evening
kvelden – the evening

For parts of the day used in a general, habitual sense, Norwegian prefers the definite singular:

om morgenen – (in the) mornings / in the morning
om kvelden – (in the) evenings / in the evening

So the definite form here doesn’t mean one specific morning or evening; it’s a standard way to express a general routine time of day.

Could I say om morgenen går bussen fortere enn om kvelden instead? Is that word order OK?

Yes, that is completely correct and very natural:

Om morgenen går bussen fortere enn om kvelden.

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position.

Subject first: Bussen (1) går (2) fortere om morgenen enn om kvelden.
Time expression first: Om morgenen (1) går (2) bussen fortere enn om kvelden.

What you can’t do is:

✗ Om morgenen bussen går fortere enn om kvelden. (verb is not in second position)

What is the function of enn here, and how is it different from en?

Enn means “than” and is used after comparatives:

større enn – bigger than
bedre enn – better than
fortere enn – faster than

In the sentence:

fortere (faster) enn om kvelden (than in the evening)

En is something different: it’s the number “one” and also the common-gender indefinite article (“a / an”):

en buss – a bus
en kveld – an evening

So: enn = “than”; en = “a / one”.

Why don’t we have a separate word for “the” in bussen, morgenen, kvelden?

Norwegian normally puts the on the end of the noun, not in front of it:

en buss – a bus → bussen – the bus
en morgen – a morning → morgenen – the morning
en kveld – an evening → kvelden – the evening

So:

Bussen går … = The bus goes …
om morgenen = in the morning
om kvelden = in the evening

You don’t add another word like English the; the -en ending is the definite article.

Can I use kjører instead of går: Bussen kjører fortere om morgenen enn om kvelden?

Yes, Bussen kjører fortere om morgenen enn om kvelden is grammatically correct and understandable.

Nuance:

går with transport is neutral and very common, especially when talking about routes, timetables, and general operation.
kjører focuses a bit more on the act of driving (what the driver/the vehicle does).

In practice, both can describe speed, and both versions would be accepted. For talking about when and how buses run in general, learners are usually safest using går.

What is the difference between om morgenen and i morgen?

They look similar but mean different things:

om morgenen – in the morning(s) (time of day, habitual)
- Bussen går fortere om morgenen. – The bus goes faster in the mornings.
i morgen – tomorrow (the next day)
- Bussen går tidlig i morgen. – The bus goes early tomorrow.

So:

morgen = morning
morgenen = the morning
i morgen (two words) = tomorrow

Be careful: i morgen is not “in the morning” – that is om morgenen (for general routines) or i morgen tidlig (“tomorrow morning”).

Could I say på morgenen or i morgenen, or must it be om morgenen?

For this general, habitual meaning, om morgenen is the standard and safest form.

om morgenen – in the morning(s) (habitually)

På morgenen can be heard in some varieties and certain contexts, but for learners, om morgenen is the recommended default.

I morgenen is not used in standard Norwegian for this meaning and would sound wrong in this sentence.

What’s the difference between morgen and kveld, and when would I use other words like formiddag?

Basic time-of-day nouns:

morgen – morning
formiddag – late morning / before noon
ettermiddag – afternoon (after noon)
kveld – evening
natt – night

Typical time expressions with om:

om morgenen – in the morning(s)
om formiddagen – in the late morning(s)
om ettermiddagen – in the afternoon(s)
om kvelden – in the evening(s)
om natten – at night

In the sentence Bussen går fortere om morgenen enn om kvelden, the contrast is simply morning vs evening. If you wanted to be more precise (for example, “in the afternoon”), you’d swap in om ettermiddagen, etc.