Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos og legger soveposen i bilen. - I pack coffee in a thermos and put the sleeping bag in the car.

In Norwegian, kaffe is usually treated as a mass (uncountable) noun when you talk about coffee in general or some amount of coffee, just like coffee in English.

So:

Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos.
= I’m packing (some) coffee in a thermos.

You would only use an article if you are talking about a specific cup/portion/type in a countable way:

en kaffe – a coffee (e.g. one coffee / one cup of coffee)
Jeg bestilte en kaffe. – I ordered a coffee.

Here, the sentence talks about an unspecified amount of coffee, so no article is used.

Why is it en termos, but soveposen and bilen?

This is about indefinite vs. definite forms.

en termos – a thermos (indefinite, not a specific one in the discourse)
soveposen – the sleeping bag (definite; a specific one we assume both speaker and listener know)
bilen – the car (definite; a specific car)

Norwegian usually marks definiteness with a suffix:

sovepose (a sleeping bag) → soveposen (the sleeping bag)
bil (a car) → bilen (the car)

So the sentence implies:

I’m using a thermos (any thermos, or at least not previously identified in the conversation),
but I’m putting the sleeping bag in the car (presumably “my car” and “my/our sleeping bag” – contextually clear and thus definite).

Why is the preposition i used both in i en termos and i bilen? Could it be på or til instead?

Norwegian i often corresponds to English in / into, and it’s used here in both senses:

pakker kaffe i en termos – pack coffee into a thermos
legger soveposen i bilen – put the sleeping bag in/into the car

You cannot use på here, because på usually means on / onto (or in some set expressions like på skolen = at school).
You also don’t use til (to) in these structures; til expresses destination more abstractly (to a place/person), not “into a container”.

So:

✅ i en termos – in/into a thermos
✅ i bilen – in/into the car
❌ på en termos, på bilen (wrong in this context)
❌ til en termos, til bilen (wrong here for physical placing inside)

Why is it Jeg pakker kaffe … og legger soveposen … and not … og jeg legger soveposen …?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance.

Norwegian often omits the repeated subject when the second verb refers to the same subject and is closely connected:

Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos og legger soveposen i bilen.
Literally: I pack coffee in a thermos and put the sleeping bag in the car.

This is natural and compact.

You can also say:

Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos, og jeg legger soveposen i bilen.

This is grammatically fine but sounds a bit more separated, as if you’re listing two more independent actions, or emphasizing the second clause.

So:

No jeg after og: very normal, especially in simple sequences of actions.
With jeg repeated: possible, but slightly more formal / emphatic / separated.

What’s the difference between legger, setter and putter? Why use legger here?

All three can translate to put, but they have different typical uses:

legger – “lay, put down in a lying position”
- used for things that normally lie flat or are placed horizontally
- Jeg legger boka på bordet. – I put the book on the table.
setter – “set, put in a standing position”
- used for things that normally stand upright (bottles, chairs, etc.)
- Jeg setter koppen på bordet. – I put the cup on the table.
putter – more general “put, stick, shove”
- often more casual or about inserting/placing without strong focus on position
- Jeg putter nøklene i lomma. – I put the keys in my pocket.

For a sovepose (sleeping bag), legger is most natural because you typically lay it down or place it so it lies somewhere (even if it’s just being laid in a car).

You could say putter soveposen i bilen, and it wouldn’t be wrong, but legger is slightly more neutral and common for placing an object like that.

Does the present tense pakker / legger mean it’s happening right now, or can it mean a future plan?

Norwegian present tense can describe:

An action happening right now
- Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos nå. – I’m packing coffee in a thermos now.
A planned or scheduled future action (similar to English “I’m packing…” or sometimes “I pack…”)
- I morgen tidlig pakker jeg kaffe i en termos og legger soveposen i bilen.
  – Tomorrow morning I’ll pack coffee in a thermos and put the sleeping bag in the car.

In your sentence, without extra time information, it most naturally sounds like a right-now action or a narrative description (e.g. describing what you usually do when going on a trip). Context decides whether it’s present or near-future.

Why is it i bilen and not inn i bilen?

Both i and inn i can be translated as into / in, but:

i bilen can mean in the car (location) or into the car (movement), depending on context.
inn i bilen emphasizes movement from outside to inside – “into the car”.

In everyday speech, when the movement is obvious, Norwegians often just say i:

Jeg legger soveposen i bilen. – I put the sleeping bag in/into the car.

If you want to stress the entering motion, you can say:

Jeg legger soveposen inn i bilen. – I (really) put the sleeping bag into the car (focusing on the going inside).

Both are correct; i bilen is more neutral and common here.

Could you say Jeg pakker kaffe i termos without en?

You might hear i termos without the article, especially in a more telegraphic or informal style, but in standard, careful Norwegian:

i en termos is the most natural for one unspecific thermos.

Subtle differences:

i en termos – in a thermos (a single, unspecified thermos)
i termos – more like “in thermos-form” / “using a thermos” (feels more generic or idiomatic; less common in a full sentence like this)

For a learner, it’s safest and most standard to use:

Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos.

How are jeg, pakker, kaffe, legger, soveposen, bilen, and og pronounced?

Approximate pronunciations (using English-like hints):

jeg – usually /jai/ (like English “ye” with an ai sound; often written as jai in learner guides). In some dialects more like jæi or jei.
pakker – PAK-ker
- a as in “father” (short),
- kk is a strong /k/,
- er at the end often sounds like -er (like “air” but shorter).
kaffe – KAF-fe
- ka like in “cuff” but with k,
- ffe like English “feh”.
legger – LEG-ger
- e like “egg”,
- gg is a hard /g/,
- er at the end as above.
soveposen – SOH-veh-poh-sen
- so like “so” (but shorter),
- ve like “ve” in “very” but shorter,
- po like “po” in “Poland”,
- sen like “sen” in “sentence” (short).
bilen – BEE-len
- bi like “bee”,
- len like “len” in “Lenny” (short).
og – normally pronounced like a short o sound (close to English oh but shorter), often almost just o; the g is often very weak or silent in normal speech.

What are the grammatical genders of termos, sovepose, and bil, and how do I see that in the sentence?

In this sentence:

en termos – masculine (indefinite: en termos, definite: termosen)
soveposen – masculine (indefinite: en sovepose, definite: soveposen)
bilen – masculine (indefinite: en bil, definite: bilen)

Clues in the sentence:

The indefinite article en shows masculine (or common gender):
- en termos
The definite form with -en on the noun:
- sovepose → soveposen
- bil → bilen

So you see masculines here by:

en in the indefinite form,
-en as the definite ending.

How would the sentence change if there were multiple thermoses, sleeping bags, or cars?

Plural forms:

termos → termoser (indef.) → termosene (def.)
sovepose → soveposer (indef.) → soveposene (def.)
bil → biler (indef.) → bilene (def.)

Examples based on your sentence:

Plural thermoses, one (definite) sleeping bag, one (definite) car:
- Jeg pakker kaffe i termoser og legger soveposen i bilen.
  – I pack coffee in thermoses and put the sleeping bag in the car.
Plural sleeping bags:
- Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos og legger soveposene i bilen.
  – …put the sleeping bags in the car.
Plural cars:
- Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos og legger soveposen i bilene.
  – …put the sleeping bag in the cars.

You adjust the noun ending to -er / -ene for plurals.

Could you use a different verb than pakker here, like tar med?

Yes, you can use other verbs depending on what you want to emphasize:

pakker – “pack”
- Focus on the action of packing (into a container, bag, etc.)
- Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos. – I pack coffee in a thermos.
tar med – “bring / take along”
- Focus on bringing something with you
- Jeg tar med kaffe i en termos. – I’m bringing coffee in a thermos (with me).

Both are correct, but they highlight different things:

pakker: the physical packing action.
tar med: the fact that you will have the coffee with you where you go.

In your original sentence, pakker fits well because you are describing your concrete preparations.

Is it correct to say Jeg pakker i kaffe en termos or Jeg pakker i en termos kaffe?

No, both of those word orders are unnatural or incorrect.

The normal structure is:

pakke [OBJECT] i [CONTAINER]

So:

✅ Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos.
– I pack coffee in a thermos.

If you move things around, you typically do it for emphasis, but you still keep the basic object–prepositional phrase order:

Jeg pakker i en termos kaffe is theoretically possible in very marked, poetic, or strange emphasis, but it is not normal everyday Norwegian.

For standard, natural speech, stick to:

Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos.

Is there any special rule about using og to link two verbs like this?

A few key points:

When the subject is the same and comes first, you can share it:
- Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos og legger soveposen i bilen.
- Subject jeg belongs to both pakker and legger.
If the clauses were longer or more independent, you might repeat the subject:
- Jeg pakker kaffe i en termos, og jeg legger soveposen i bilen.
The verb-second rule (V2) in main clauses:
- After the subject, the verb comes in second position:
  - Jeg pakker …
  - Jeg legger …
When you share the subject, the second verb legger is directly after og, which acts like a connector between two main verbs sharing the same subject.

So your sentence is a typical, natural way to link two actions with og.