Learn Hardcore Norwegian: En dag går vi langt opp i skogen og slår leir ved en liten bekk. - One day we walk far up into the forest and set up camp by a small stream.

Norwegian often uses the present tense to tell stories about the past. This is called the historical present. It makes the story feel more vivid and immediate, as if it is happening right now.

En dag går vi langt opp i skogen ...
= One day we go far up into the forest ... (but in a story, it’s understood as went.)

You could also use the normal past tense:

En dag gikk vi langt opp i skogen ...
= One day we went far up into the forest ...

Both are correct. The choice is stylistic: går (present) = more vivid storytelling, gikk (past) = more neutral past narrative.

What is the difference between går, drar, and reiser?

All three can be translated as go, but they have different typical uses:

går
- Basic meaning: walk, go on foot.
- Also used more generally for go in everyday language.
- Vi går langt opp i skogen suggests we walk far up into the forest.
drar
- General go/leave (by any means of transport).
- Often a bit more informal.
- Vi drar til hytta i helga. = We’re going to the cabin this weekend.
reiser
- More formal: travel (often longer distances or trips).
- Vi reiser til Spania i sommer. = We are travelling to Spain this summer.

In your sentence, går matches well because it’s natural to imagine walking into the forest.

Why is it langt opp i skogen and not opp langt i skogen?

Word order of adverbs is fairly strict in Norwegian. A common pattern is:

Verb + (subject) + adverb of degree + adverb of direction + place

In this case:

langt = degree (far)
opp = direction (up)
i skogen = place (in the forest)

So:

går vi langt opp i skogen
= we go far up into the forest

Opp langt i skogen is not natural; langt wants to stand directly before opp to modify it: far up.

What is the difference between opp i skogen and oppe i skogen?

opp i skogen focuses on movement upwards or going up into the forest. It describes the path or direction.
- Vi går langt opp i skogen. = We walk far up into the forest.
oppe i skogen focuses on location up there in the forest, not the movement.
- Hytta ligger langt oppe i skogen. = The cabin is (located) far up in the forest.

So in your sentence, because we are moving, opp i skogen is more natural.

Why is it i skogen (with the definite form skogen) and not i en skog?

skogen = the forest (definite form)
en skog = a forest (indefinite form)

Norwegian often uses the definite form for places that are:

Known from context, or
Understood as a specific area (like the forest nearby, the local forest).

So i skogen often means something like:

in the forest (we know/assume is around here)

If you said i en skog, it would sound more like in a (random/unspecified) forest, which is less natural in many real-life contexts.

What does the expression slår leir literally mean, and why use slår?

Slår leir is an idiomatic expression meaning to make camp / set up camp.

slår = hits/strikes (basic meaning)
leir = camp

So literally it’s similar to old expressions like to strike camp in English.

Examples:

Vi slår leir ved elva. = We make camp by the river.
Speiderne slo leir i skogen. = The scouts made camp in the forest.

You could also say sette opp leir, but slå leir is the most common fixed phrase.

Why is it slår leir and not slår leiren?

In Norwegian, many “light verb + noun” expressions keep the noun indefinite when they describe an activity, not a specific physical object:

slå leir (make camp)
ta buss (take a bus)
ta pause (take a break)
få ideer (get ideas)

So slår leir describes the action of camping, not the specific camp we talked about before.

If you said slår leiren, it would suggest hitting/striking the (already existing) camp and would sound wrong in this context.

What does ved mean in ved en liten bekk, and how is it different from nær or hos?

ved = by, at, beside, usually very close to something, often along its edge.
- ved en liten bekk = by a small stream.
nær = near, a bit more general in distance, not necessarily right next to.
- nær en liten bekk = near a small stream (could be some distance away).
hos = at someone’s place / with (a person), used mostly with people or organizations.
- hos legen = at the doctor’s.
- hos bestemor = at grandma’s (place).

So for geographical features like a stream or river, ved is the natural choice for by / right next to.

What exactly is a bekk, and how is it different from elv?

bekk = stream, brook
- Small, usually narrow, shallow flowing water.
elv = river
- Larger, more significant flow of water.

So en liten bekk = a small stream, while elva or en elv would be a river.

Why is it en liten bekk and not et liten bekk?

Norwegian nouns have grammatical gender. The noun bekk is masculine, so:

Indefinite article: en bekk (not et bekk).
Adjective in indefinite singular masculine: liten.

So:

en liten bekk = a small stream.

If the noun were neuter, you would use:

et lite hus = a small house (hus = neuter; adjective form: lite).

What are the different forms of liten, and when are they used?

Liten changes form according to gender and number:

Masculine singular: liten
- en liten bekk = a small stream
Feminine singular: usually lita (in Bokmål; liten is also allowed)
- ei lita elv = a small river
Neuter singular: lite
- et lite barn = a small child
Plural (all genders): små
- små barn = small children
- små bekker = small streams

In your sentence, bekk is masculine, so en liten bekk is correct.

Why don’t we repeat vi before the second verb: why not En dag går vi ... og vi slår leir ...?

In Norwegian, when two verbs share the same subject, you usually don’t repeat the subject if the verbs are connected by og (and):

En dag går vi langt opp i skogen og slår leir ved en liten bekk.

This is equivalent to:

One day *we go far up into the forest and (we) make camp by a small stream.*

You could say ... og vi slår leir ..., but it’s more natural and lighter to omit the second vi here, since it’s clearly the same subject.

Could you say En dag gikk vi langt opp i skogen og slo leir ved en liten bekk instead? How would that change the feel?

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

En dag gikk vi langt opp i skogen og slo leir ved en liten bekk.

This version uses simple past (gikk, slo) and feels like a neutral past narrative.

The original with present tense (går, slår) feels a bit more lively and immediate, like you’re reliving the experience as you tell it. The meaning in terms of time is the same (a past event); the difference is mostly style and mood.

Why can’t Norwegian drop the subject like some other languages? Why do we need vi?

Norwegian normally requires an explicit subject pronoun:

Vi går langt opp i skogen. = We go/walk far up into the forest.

You cannot say:

Går langt opp i skogen. (wrong in normal Norwegian)

Unlike Spanish or Italian, Norwegian is not a “pro-drop” language. The verb form usually doesn’t show who the subject is, so you must keep jeg, du, vi, dere, de, etc., to indicate the subject clearly.