Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hvis vi drar nå, rekker vi filmen på kino. - If we leave now, we will catch the movie at the cinema.

Here, Hvis vi drar nå (“If we leave now”) clearly refers to an action starting in the immediate future, and rekker vi filmen is the logical future result. So present tense in Norwegian covers what English expresses with “will” in this kind of conditional sentence.

You could make the future even more explicit with kommer til å (e.g. Hvis vi drar nå, kommer vi til å rekke filmen), but that is not necessary and sounds heavier. The simple present is the most natural here.

What exactly does rekker mean in this sentence?

The verb å rekke has several meanings. The important one here is:

å rekke (noe) = to be in time for something / to make it / to catch it (before it starts or leaves).

So rekker vi filmen means “we are in time for the movie / we manage to catch the movie (before it starts).”

Other meanings of å rekke in different contexts include:

å rekke noe med hånden – to reach something with your hand
å rekke opp hånden – to raise your hand

But in time-related contexts, think of it as “to have enough time to get there before it starts.”

Why is the word order rekker vi filmen and not vi rekker filmen after the comma?

This is because of the V2 (verb-second) rule in Norwegian main clauses.

The structure is:

Subordinate clause first: Hvis vi drar nå,
Then the main clause must still follow V2: rekker vi filmen på kino.

In a Norwegian main clause, the finite verb almost always comes in second position. When something other than the subject (here, a whole subordinate clause) comes first, the verb must come next, and the subject follows after:

Clause-first: Hvis vi drar nå,
1st position in main clause: rekker (verb)
2nd position: vi (subject)
Rest: filmen på kino

If you started with the subject instead, putting the main clause first, you would say:

Vi rekker filmen på kino hvis vi drar nå.

Here the subject vi is first and the verb rekker is second, so the V2 rule is still satisfied.

Is the comma after Hvis vi drar nå required in Norwegian?

Yes, according to standard Norwegian punctuation rules, you normally put a comma between a subordinate clause and the following main clause when the subordinate clause comes first.

So:

Correct standard: Hvis vi drar nå, rekker vi filmen på kino.

In informal writing some people may drop that comma, but in formal/standard Norwegian it is considered correct and expected to include it in this pattern.

Why is it filmen and not en film here?

Norwegian uses the definite form (filmen) similarly to English “the movie”, when both speaker and listener know which movie is being talked about (for example, a specific showing you’ve agreed to see).

filmen = the movie (a specific one)
en film = a movie (any movie, not specified)

In this context you’re clearly referring to one specific screening you want to catch, so filmen is natural.

If you wanted to say something more general like “If we leave now, we’ll manage to see a movie at the cinema (not necessarily a specific one)”, you might say:

Hvis vi drar nå, rekker vi en film på kino.

But that sounds less typical; usually people mean a particular showtime, so filmen is used.

Could I also say rekker å se filmen instead of rekker filmen? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say both, and both are grammatical:

rekker filmen – “make/catch the movie (on time)”
rekker å se filmen – “manage to see the movie / have time to see the movie”

In practice, in this specific context they usually mean almost the same thing. Rekker filmen focuses on arriving before it starts (catch the showing), while rekker å se filmen emphasizes having enough time to see it (from beginning to end).

So:

Hvis vi drar nå, rekker vi filmen på kino.
→ We’ll get there in time for the start of the movie.
Hvis vi drar nå, rekker vi å se filmen på kino.
→ We’ll have enough time to (properly) see the movie at the cinema.

Both are natural; the short version (rekker filmen) is more compact and very common in speech.

Why is it på kino and not i kino?

In Norwegian, the preposition på is commonly used with venues and events, especially when you mean “go to and attend” something:

på kino – at/to the cinema (to watch a movie)
på skole – at school
på jobb – at work
på konsert – at a concert
på trening – at (sports) practice

I kino would sound wrong in this context. I is used more for being physically inside a space as a location, like i huset (“in the house”). With the idea of “going to the cinema to see a movie”, Norwegian almost always uses på kino.

What is the difference between drar and går here? Could I say Hvis vi går nå?

You can say Hvis vi går nå, and it will be understood and can be natural depending on context.

Rough nuance:

å dra = to leave / to go / to head off (more general, often implying some kind of travel or departure, regardless of how you move)
å gå = to walk; also used more loosely as “go/leave” in some contexts

In this sentence:

Hvis vi drar nå is very neutral and common: “If we leave now”.
Hvis vi går nå can either literally mean “If we walk now” (as our mode of transport) or more colloquially “If we go now”. If it’s clear you’ll be walking to the cinema, går may feel slightly more concrete.

So:

General “let’s head out / leave now”: drar is the safest, most neutral.
Emphasizing walking as movement: går fits well.

Can I add så and say Hvis vi drar nå, så rekker vi filmen på kino? Is that more natural?

Yes, this is also correct and quite common:

Hvis vi drar nå, så rekker vi filmen på kino.

Here så works a bit like “then” in English: “If we leave now, then we’ll make the movie.”

Both versions are fine:

Without så: slightly more neutral, a bit more compact.
With så: very natural in spoken Norwegian; it makes the cause–effect relationship feel a bit more explicit.

In writing (especially formal writing), people might more often leave så out, but it’s by no means wrong.

How would the sentence look if I start with the main clause instead?

If you start with the main clause, the word order becomes:

Vi rekker filmen på kino hvis vi drar nå.

This keeps the V2 rule (verb second) in the main clause:

Vi (subject)
rekker (finite verb)
filmen på kino (rest of the clause)
hvis vi drar nå (subordinate clause after the main clause)

Note the differences compared to the original:

Original: Hvis vi drar nå, rekker vi filmen på kino.
Reordered: Vi rekker filmen på kino hvis vi drar nå.

Both are equally correct and natural; starting with the hvis-clause puts a bit more emphasis on the condition (“if we leave now”), while starting with Vi rekker filmen… emphasizes the result (“we’ll make the movie”).