Vi står i en sirkel og gjør en enkel pusteøvelse sammen.

We stand in a circle and do a simple breathing exercise together.

Breakdown of Vi står i en sirkel og gjør en enkel pusteøvelse sammen.

• en: a
• vi: we
• i: in
• og: and
• sammen: together
• gjøre: to do
• enkel: simple
• stå: to stand
• sirkelen: the circle
• pusteøvelsen: the breathing exercise

Questions & Answers about Vi står i en sirkel og gjør en enkel pusteøvelse sammen.

Why is it vi står and not something like vi er to mean “we are standing”?

Norwegian normally uses the verb stå (to stand) for the physical position of standing, not være (to be).

• Vi står i en sirkel = We are (standing) in a circle.
• Vi er i en sirkel = We are in a circle (could be understood more as “we are located in a circular area,” not clearly about standing posture).

Norwegian has specific posture verbs:

• stå = stand
• sitte = sit
• ligge = lie (be lying)

Where English often uses to be + -ing (are standing, are sitting), Norwegian usually uses these posture verbs in the simple present instead.

What tense are står and gjør, and why don’t we say something like “are standing” or “are doing” in Norwegian?

Both står (from å stå) and gjør (from å gjøre) are in the present tense.

Norwegian present tense covers both:

• English simple present: We stand, we do
• English present continuous: We are standing, we are doing

So:

• Vi står i en sirkel = We stand in a circle / We are standing in a circle.
• Vi gjør en enkel pusteøvelse = We do a simple breathing exercise / We are doing a simple breathing exercise.

You don’t need an extra auxiliary like are to show the continuous aspect in Norwegian; the plain present tense normally does that job.

Why do we say i en sirkel and not på en sirkel?

The preposition i is used for being in/inside or within something, and also for formations and shapes people form:

• stå i en sirkel = stand in a circle
• stå i ring = stand in a ring (very common expression)
• sitte i en halvsirkel = sit in a semicircle

På is used more for surfaces or on top of something:

• stå på bordet = stand on the table
• stå på scenen = stand on the stage

Since the people are arranged within the circular formation, Norwegian uses i here: i en sirkel.

Why is it en sirkel and not et sirkel or something else?

Norwegian nouns have grammatical gender. Sirkel is a common-gender noun (formerly “masculine/feminine”), so it takes the article en:

• en sirkel = a circle (indefinite singular)
• sirkelen = the circle (definite singular)

Compare with:

• et bord (a table – neuter)
• bordet (the table)

You just have to memorize the gender for each noun; there’s no reliable rule from the ending -el alone.

Why is it en enkel pusteøvelse and not something like en pusteøvelse enkel?

In Norwegian, like in English, attributive adjectives normally come before the noun:

• en enkel pusteøvelse = a simple breathing exercise
• et vanskelig spørsmål = a difficult question

Word order adjective + noun is standard. The reverse order (pusteøvelse enkel) is not used in normal modern Norwegian prose; it would sound archaic or poetic at best.

Also notice the agreement:

• en enkel pusteøvelse (common gender, singular, indefinite ⇒ en enkel)
• den enkle pusteøvelsen (definite ⇒ den enkle … -en)

So both the article and the adjective change with definiteness and number, but the adjective normally stays before the noun.

Why is the adjective enkel in that exact form? When does it change?

Enkel is the base form of the adjective enkel (simple, easy). It changes with gender/number/definiteness:

• Singular, common gender, indefinite:
  
  • en enkel pusteøvelse (a simple breathing exercise)
• Singular, neuter, indefinite:
  
  • et enkelt svar (a simple answer)
• Plural (both genders), indefinite:
  
  • enkle øvelser (simple exercises)

With definite nouns or with a possessive, you also use the -e form:

• den enkle pusteøvelsen (the simple breathing exercise)
• mine enkle øvelser (my simple exercises)

In this sentence we have a common-gender singular indefinite noun (en pusteøvelse), so the correct adjective form is enkel.

What does enkel really mean here? Is it more like “simple” or “easy”?

Enkel can mean both simple and easy, and often both ideas are present:

• en enkel pusteøvelse suggests:
  • it’s not complicated (few steps, straightforward), and
  • it’s not very difficult to do.

If you want to stress “easy to do,” you could also use lett in some contexts (en lett øvelse), but enkel is very natural here for a basic, uncomplicated breathing exercise.

What exactly is pusteøvelse? Is it a compound word?

Yes, pusteøvelse is a compound noun, formed by combining:

• puste (to breathe) – the verb stem used as a first part
• øvelse (exercise, practice) – a common-gender noun

So literally it’s a “breathing exercise”.

Norwegian usually writes compounds as one word:

• pusteøvelse (not puste øvelse)
• håndbok (handbook)
• barnebok (children’s book)

Writing puste øvelse as two separate words would be considered wrong or at least very strange.

Why do we use gjør with pusteøvelse? Could we use some other verb?

Gjøre is the natural verb with øvelse:

• å gjøre en øvelse = to do an exercise
• å gjøre en pusteøvelse = to do a breathing exercise

This matches English quite closely: do an exercise.

You might occasionally hear other verbs like:

• å ta noen øvelser (to do/take some exercises, often physical)

But for a single specific exercise, gjøre en øvelse is the standard, and gjør en enkel pusteøvelse sounds completely natural.

Why is it og gjør and not og vi gjør after vi står i en sirkel?

Norwegian often does not repeat the subject when two verbs share the same subject and are joined by og:

• Vi står i en sirkel og gjør en enkel pusteøvelse.
  (We stand in a circle and do a simple breathing exercise.)

If you said:

• Vi står i en sirkel og vi gjør en enkel pusteøvelse.

it would still be grammatically correct, but it sounds heavier and is only used if you want to emphasize the repetition for some reason. The natural, fluent version is to say vi once and then just og gjør.

What does sammen mean exactly, and where can it go in the sentence?

Sammen means together.

In this sentence:

• Vi står i en sirkel og gjør en enkel pusteøvelse sammen.
  = We stand in a circle and do a simple breathing exercise together.

Common placements:

• Vi står sammen i en sirkel og gjør en enkel pusteøvelse.
• Vi står i en sirkel og gjør en enkel pusteøvelse sammen.

Both are fine. Placing sammen near what it modifies can slightly affect focus:

• Near står: emphasizes standing together
• Near gjør en enkel pusteøvelse: emphasizes doing the exercise together

But usually the overall meaning is clear either way.

Could we say vi står i sirkel without en?

You might hear i sirkel in some contexts, but the most idiomatic expressions here are:

• stå i en sirkel (stand in a circle)
• stå i ring (stand in a ring – very common fixed expression)

So:

• Vi står i en sirkel… – perfectly natural.
• Vi står i sirkel… – understandable but less common; sounds a bit more abstract or technical.

In everyday speech, learners are safest sticking with i en sirkel or using the fixed phrase i ring:

• Vi står i ring og gjør en enkel pusteøvelse sammen.

How would this sentence look in the plural, and what happens to the adjective and noun endings?

If you want both circles and exercises in the plural, you get:

• Vi står i sirkler og gjør enkle pusteøvelser sammen.
  = We stand in circles and do simple breathing exercises together.

Changes:

• sirkel → sirkler (plural noun)
• pusteøvelse → pusteøvelser (plural noun)
• enkel → enkle (plural adjective form)

The article en disappears in the plural indefinite (you don’t say en sirkler, en pusteøvelser).

How do you pronounce the ø in pusteøvelse, and is øvelse a common ending?

Ø is a vowel somewhere between English “uh” (as in burn with British pronunciation) and “er” in her, but pronounced with rounded lips.

• ø in øvelse: rounded front vowel, like the French eu in peur.

-else is a very common noun ending and often corresponds to English -tion/-ing/-ment/-ness depending on the word:

• øve (to practise) → øvelse (exercise, practice)
• bevege (to move) → bevegelse (movement)

So learning the pronunciation of ø and the pattern verb + -else → noun is quite useful.