Når klærne blir våte, skifter vi til tørre sokker på uteplassen.

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Breakdown of Når klærne blir våte, skifter vi til tørre sokker på uteplassen.

• til: to
• når: when
• bli: to become

Questions & Answers about Når klærne blir våte, skifter vi til tørre sokker på uteplassen.

Why is it Når and not Da at the beginning of the sentence?

Norwegian makes a clear distinction between når and da:

• når = when / whenever in:
  • general truths or habits (things that can happen many times)
  • future time
• da = when in:
  • a single, specific event in the past

In this sentence we’re talking about a general rule or routine: whenever the clothes get wet, we do X. That’s why når is used, not da.

If it described one specific event in the past, you might use da instead, for example:

• Da klærne ble våte, skiftet vi til tørre sokker.
  (One particular time in the past.)

Why is it klærne and not just klær?

Klær means clothes (indefinite plural).
Klærne means the clothes (definite plural).

So:

• klær = clothes (in general, not specified)
• klærne = the clothes (the ones we’re talking about, for example the ones we are wearing)

In this sentence, klærne refers to a specific set of clothes (the clothes we have on), so the definite form is natural.

What exactly does blir mean here? Why not ?