Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.

I like to roll out the sleeping bag in the living room.

Breakdown of Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.

• jeg: I
• å: to
• i: in
• like: to like
• stuen: the living room
• soveposen: the sleeping bag
• rulle ut: to roll out

Questions & Answers about Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.

What does å do in å rulle ut, and is it the same as English to?

Å is the infinitive marker in Norwegian. It shows that rulle is in the infinitive form.

• å rulle = to roll
• å rulle ut = to roll out

After verbs like liker, elsker, hater, planlegger, etc., you normally use å + infinitive:

• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.
  = I like to roll out the sleeping bag in the living room.

You cannot drop å here;
✗ Jeg liker rulle ut soveposen is wrong.

So yes, å functions much like English to before a verb, but it is used in slightly different patterns (for example, it is not used after modal verbs like kan, vil, skal).

Why do we use rulle ut and not just rulle?

Rulle by itself means to roll (a general rolling motion).

Adding the particle ut (out) makes it more specific: rulle ut means to roll out / unroll something, usually something rolled up like:

• rulle ut soveposen – roll out/unroll the sleeping bag
• rulle ut teppet – roll out the carpet

This verb + particle pattern (rulle ut, slå på, ta av, etc.) is very common in Norwegian and works a lot like English phrasal verbs:

• rulle ut – roll out
• slå på – turn on
• ta av – take off

Can the word ut move to a different position, like in English roll the sleeping bag out?

Yes, Norwegian allows some flexibility, but there are preferred patterns.

Your sentence:

• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen. (very natural)

Another grammatical option:

• Jeg liker å rulle soveposen ut i stuen.

Both are understandable. The first version (verb + particle together) is the most straightforward and learner‑friendly.

What you should avoid is putting ut too far away, for example:

• ✗ Jeg liker å rulle soveposen i stuen ut. (sounds wrong/very odd)

A good rule for learners:
Keep the particle ut close to the verb, either right after the verb (rulle ut soveposen) or after the object (rulle soveposen ut), but not after a prepositional phrase like i stuen.

Why is it soveposen (the sleeping bag) and not en sovepose (a sleeping bag)?

Norwegian usually marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun:

• en sovepose – a sleeping bag (indefinite)
• soveposen – the sleeping bag (definite)

In Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen, we are talking about a specific sleeping bag that is known from context (typically my sleeping bag or one that has already been mentioned). That is why the definite form soveposen is used.

If you said:

• Jeg liker å rulle ut en sovepose i stuen.

it would sound more like a general, non‑specific a sleeping bag, as if any random sleeping bag would do.

How do I say my sleeping bag here, and is it necessary to include my?

To say my sleeping bag, you normally use:

• soveposen min – my sleeping bag

So you could say:

• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen min i stuen.

In Norwegian, the possessive often comes after the noun, which already has a definite ending:

• en sovepose → soveposen → soveposen min

You can also say:

• min sovepose

but that is more emphatic or stylistically marked, not the neutral everyday choice here.

It’s also very common in Norwegian to omit the possessive when it’s obvious from context. If it’s clearly your own sleeping bag, soveposen alone is enough. So both are fine:

• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.
• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen min i stuen.

What are the grammatical forms of sovepose?

Sovepose is a masculine noun (in Bokmål). Its main forms:

• Indefinite singular: en sovepose – a sleeping bag
• Definite singular: soveposen – the sleeping bag
• Indefinite plural: soveposer – sleeping bags
• Definite plural: soveposene – the sleeping bags

So in the sentence, soveposen is definite singular.

Why is it i stuen and not på stuen?

For most rooms inside a house, Norwegian uses i (in), not på (on):

• i stuen – in the living room
• i gangen – in the hallway
• i kjelleren – in the basement

Some rooms do take på, most notably:

• på kjøkkenet – in the kitchen
• på badet – in the bathroom

But for stue (living room), the natural preposition is i:

• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.

På stuen would normally sound wrong or at best very dialectal/odd to most speakers.

What is the difference between stue, stuen, and stua?

They are different forms of the same noun:

• stue – living room (indefinite singular)
• stuen – the living room (definite singular, common/masculine form)
• stua – the living room (definite singular, feminine form)

In Bokmål, many nouns can be either masculine or feminine. Stue is one of them:

• masculine pattern: en stue – stuen
• feminine pattern: ei stue – stua

Both stuen and stua are correct in Bokmål. Rough guide:

• stuen – feels a bit more formal/standard written Bokmål
• stua – very common in speech and informal writing

So you might also hear:

• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stua.

What tense is liker, and does it express a general habit like in English?

Liker is the present tense of å like (to like).

• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.
  = I like to roll out the sleeping bag in the living room.

In Norwegian, the simple present often covers both:

• general truths or habits: Jeg liker kaffe.
• actions happening now: Jeg ruller ut soveposen nå.

There is no separate progressive form like I am liking in English; you just use liker for a general preference.

In English I can say I like rolling out the sleeping bag. Why doesn’t Norwegian use an -ing form here?

Norwegian doesn’t have a gerund -ing form like English. Instead, it normally uses å + infinitive to express both:

• to do something
• doing something (in many contexts)

So:

• I like to roll out the sleeping bag
• I like rolling out the sleeping bag

both correspond to:

• Jeg liker å rulle ut soveposen.

The verb rulle keeps its infinitive form after å, and it doesn’t change to something like rulling in this construction.

Can I move i stuen to the front, like In the living room I like to roll out the sleeping bag?

Yes. You can front the place phrase i stuen for emphasis or style:

• I stuen liker jeg å rulle ut soveposen.

When you move something other than the subject to the first position in a main clause, Norwegian word order changes so that the verb comes right after that element, and the subject comes after the verb:

• Normal order:
  Jeg (subject) liker (verb) å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.
• With fronted place phrase:
  I stuen (place) liker (verb) jeg (subject) å rulle ut soveposen.

This verb‑second pattern is very regular in Norwegian main clauses.

How would I make this sentence negative: I don’t like to roll out the sleeping bag in the living room?

You place ikke (not) after liker:

• Jeg liker ikke å rulle ut soveposen i stuen.
  = I don’t like to roll out the sleeping bag in the living room.

Word order pattern:

• Jeg (subject)
• liker (verb)
• ikke (negation)
• å rulle ut soveposen i stuen (rest of the sentence)

You should not put ikke before liker in this kind of main clause:

• ✗ Jeg ikke liker å rulle ut soveposen i stuen. (wrong)