Breakdown of Hun liker yoga fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig.
Questions & Answers about Hun liker yoga fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig.
Both liker and elsker can translate as “likes/loves”, but they’re not used the same way:
- liker = likes, enjoys (neutral, everyday preference)
- Hun liker yoga = She likes / enjoys yoga.
- elsker = loves in a strong, emotional sense
- Hun elsker yoga would sound much stronger, like “She absolutely loves yoga,” and is less neutral.
For a normal preference (foods, hobbies, activities), liker is the default verb.
Activities and sports in Norwegian normally don’t take an article when you talk about them in general:
- Hun liker yoga. – She likes yoga (the activity in general).
- Han spiller fotball. – He plays football.
- Vi trener styrke. – We do strength training.
You would only use a definite form like yogaen in a very specific context, e.g. yogaen vi gjorde i går (the yoga we did yesterday). For “liking the activity,” no article is used.
- en instruktør = an instructor (indefinite, not specific)
- instruktøren = the instructor (definite, a particular person)
In this sentence, the speaker is talking about a specific, known instructor (probably “her yoga instructor”), so the definite form instruktøren is natural.
If you said Hun liker yoga fordi en instruktør er rolig og tydelig, it would sound like “because an instructor is calm and clear,” which is strange and incomplete: which instructor?
The sentence has a main clause + fordi-clause structure:
- Main clause: Hun liker yoga
- Subject: Hun
- Verb: liker
- Object: yoga
- Subordinate clause (reason): fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig
- Conjunction: fordi (because)
- Subject: instruktøren
- Verb: er
- Predicative adjectives: rolig og tydelig
This is the default order in Norwegian: [Main clause] + fordi + [subject + verb + rest].
You can also front the fordi-clause for emphasis:
- Fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig, liker hun yoga.
Notice that when the fordi-clause comes first, the main clause uses inversion (liker hun, not hun liker), just like other V2 main clauses in Norwegian.
You can move the fordi-clause to the front, but the main clause then has to follow the V2 rule (verb in second position):
✅ Fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig, liker hun yoga.
❌ Fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig, hun liker yoga.
After a fronted element (Fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig), the finite verb (liker) must come next in a main clause.
Usually, no comma is used before fordi when the reason clause comes after the main clause:
- Hun liker yoga fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig.
A comma can appear when the fordi-clause comes first:
- Fordi instruktøren er rolig og tydelig, liker hun yoga.
So:
- Main clause first: normally no comma before fordi.
- Subordinate clause first: comma before the main clause.
rolig can mean both calm and quiet, depending on context:
- As a personality trait: calm, relaxed
- Hun er veldig rolig. – She is very calm.
- About noise level: quiet
- Det er rolig i klasserommet. – It is quiet in the classroom.
In instruktøren er rolig, it usually means the instructor has a calm, relaxed manner (possibly also speaks in a calm, not-stressed way).
tydelig mainly means clear to understand / easy to hear or see:
- Hun snakker tydelig. – She speaks clearly.
- Instruksjonene er tydelige. – The instructions are clear.
It can also mean obvious, but in this sentence it’s about the instructor’s way of instructing: speaking clearly, giving understandable explanations, making things easy to follow.
Compare:
- tydelig – clear, intelligible, easy to understand
- klar – can be “clear” too, but also “ready” or “prepared” (Jeg er klar = I’m ready)
They are predicate adjectives after the verb er (to be):
instruktøren er rolig og tydelig.
In Norwegian, predicate adjectives in the singular usually have the same basic form for masculine/feminine and neuter:
- Han er rolig.
- Hun er rolig.
- Huset er rolig.
It’s when adjectives come in front of a noun (attributive position) that you see more changes:
- en rolig instruktør (m/f singular)
- et rolig barn (neuter singular)
- rolige instruktører (plural)
So here, rolig and tydelig stay in their base form.
Yes, you can stack adjectives just like in English:
- Instruktøren er rolig, tydelig og tålmodig.
There is no strict fixed order, but native speakers tend to put them in a natural, flowing sequence, often from more general to more specific, or by rhythm. rolig, tydelig og tålmodig sounds perfectly natural.
You still only use er once:
- ❌ Instruktøren er rolig og er tydelig.
- ✅ Instruktøren er rolig og tydelig.
Hun means she and is the subject of the main clause: Hun liker yoga.
Grammatically, Norwegian doesn’t force agreement between Hun and yoga or instruktøren; hun simply refers to some previously known female person (the learner, a friend, etc.). It does not refer to instruktøren here, because instruktøren is explicitly introduced as a separate noun later in the sentence.
So:
- Hun = some woman/girl who likes yoga
- instruktøren = the yoga instructor (could be male or female; the noun itself is grammatically masculine, but the real person’s gender depends on context).
Approximate pronunciation (Standard Eastern Norwegian, rough English-like guide):
liker ≈ “LEE-ker”
- li- like lee
- -ker with a light, unstressed ker
instruktøren ≈ “in-struhk-TEU-ren”
- in- as in in
- -struk- like struhk
- ø is a rounded vowel like French peu; English doesn’t have it, but think of saying “uh” while rounding your lips
- stress on -tø-
rolig ≈ “ROO-lee”
- ro- like roo
- -lig often pronounced close to -li in many accents
tydelig ≈ “TEE-de-li” (with a Norwegian y)
- ty-: y is like the German ü in über or French u in tu (say ee with rounded lips)
- -de- like deh
- -lig again close to -li
Real Norwegian pronunciation varies a bit by region, but these guides are close enough for learners.