Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Meditasjon hjelper ham å holde søvnrytmen mer stabil. - Meditation helps him keep his sleep rhythm more stable.

han = subject form (like English he)
- Han sover. = He sleeps.
ham = object form (like English him)
- Jeg ser ham. = I see him.

In Meditasjon hjelper ham å holde søvnrytmen mer stabil, ham is the object of hjelper (the one who is being helped), so the object form is required.

You cannot say Meditasjon hjelper han å holde … in standard written Norwegian; that sounds incorrect or very colloquial.

Why do we use å holde after hjelper ham? Is å like the English word to?

Yes. Here å is the infinitive marker, very similar to English to before a verb:

å holde = to keep / to hold

The structure is:

hjelpe (noen) å + infinitive
- Meditasjon hjelper ham å holde …
  = Meditation helps him to keep …

So:

hjelper is the conjugated (present) form of å hjelpe (to help),
å holde is the infinitive (to keep).

This is a normal pattern:

Dette hjelper meg å sove. = This helps me to sleep.
Det hjelper oss å fokusere. = It helps us to focus.

Could we also say Meditasjon hjelper ham med å holde søvnrytmen mer stabil? What’s the difference?

Yes, that is also correct:

hjelpe noen å gjøre noe
hjelpe noen med å gjøre noe

Both are widely used and usually mean the same thing. In this sentence:

Meditasjon hjelper ham å holde …
Meditasjon hjelper ham med å holde …

both sound natural.

Very roughly:

med å can make the sentence feel a bit more explicit about the activity/process (help with the task of keeping his sleep rhythm stable),
but in everyday speech and writing, the difference is minimal, and many speakers will use them interchangeably.

Why is it søvnrytmen and not just søvnrytme?

Søvnrytme is a common-gender noun (en/ei søvnrytme) meaning sleep rhythm / sleep cycle.

Norwegian marks definiteness at the end of the noun:

en søvnrytme = a sleep rhythm (indefinite singular)
søvnrytmen = the sleep rhythm (definite singular)

In the sentence, we’re talking about his specific sleep rhythm, not sleep rhythm in general. In English, you say his sleep rhythm, but Norwegian uses:

possessive (implied by ham), plus
definite form of the noun: søvnrytmen

So the idea is: "Meditation helps him to keep the sleep rhythm more stable", where the = his in context.

Why is søvnrytme written as one word? Could I write søvn rytme?

You must write it as one compound noun: søvnrytme.

Norwegian (like German) usually joins nouns together:

søvn (sleep) + rytme (rhythm) → søvnrytme (sleep rhythm)
barn (child) + hage (garden) → barnehage (kindergarten)
hånd (hand) + veske (bag) → håndveske (handbag)

Writing søvn rytme as two words is incorrect and can be confusing. When two nouns belong together as one concept, you normally make a compound.

Why is it mer stabil and not stabilere? How does comparison with mer work?

Norwegian has two ways to form the comparative of adjectives:

With endings (like English -er):
- stabil → stabilere
- rask → raskere
With the adverb mer (more) in front:
- stabil → mer stabil
- interessant → mer interessant

Both mer stabil and stabilere are grammatically correct, and both mean more stable. In everyday use:

mer stabil is very common and sounds completely natural here.
stabilere is also fine, but some speakers might slightly prefer mer stabil with this particular adjective.

So you could also say:

… å holde søvnrytmen stabilere.
and it would still be good Norwegian.

Could the adjective agree in number or definiteness, like mer stabile instead of mer stabil?

No, not in this structure.

Here we have:

å holde søvnrytmen mer stabil

The adjective stabil describes søvnrytmen in a general, predicate sense (keep the rhythm in a more stable state). In such predicate-like uses after å holde, the adjective stays in its basic form (indefinite singular):

å holde huset rent (to keep the house clean)
å holde hendene varme (to keep the hands warm) – here hendene is plural, so varme is plural
å holde søvnrytmen mer stabil

But notice:

If you had a plural noun, you would change the adjective:
- å holde rutinene mer stabile = to keep the routines more stable

So in your sentence, singular søvnrytmen → mer stabil is the correct form.

Is the present tense hjelper like English helps or is helping?

Norwegian present tense hjelper covers both:

Meditasjon hjelper ham …
= Meditation helps him …
= Meditation is helping him …

Norwegian usually doesn’t need a separate continuous form (is helping). Context tells you whether it’s a general habit or something happening around now.

Only in special cases do people use constructions like holder på å hjelpe, but that’s not needed here.

Can ham be replaced with seg here, like Meditasjon hjelper ham å holde søvnrytmen sin mer stabil?

Yes, that’s possible, but it slightly changes the structure.

Your original sentence:

Meditasjon hjelper ham å holde søvnrytmen mer stabil.
→ It’s clear from context that søvnrytmen is his.

If you want to explicitly mark it as his, you can say:

Meditasjon hjelper ham å holde søvnrytmen sin mer stabil.

Here:

sin is the reflexive possessive meaning his own (referring back to ham).
The sentence becomes a bit heavier, but it’s grammatically fine and emphasizes that we mean his own sleep rhythm, not someone else’s.

How do you pronounce søvnrytmen? Is the v in søvn pronounced?

Pronunciation (approximate, Bokmål-based):

søvnrytmen → /søvn-ryt-men/ in careful speech.

Details:

søvn:
- søv: like “sœv” (ø like in French peur)
- n: normal n
- Many speakers reduce or almost drop the v in normal speech, so it can sound closer to søn or sœn.
ryt:
- ry: like German “ü” (fronted u)
- t: clear t
men: like “men” in English, but with a more closed e.

So you might hear something like “sœn-ryt-men” in fast, natural speech, but the v is still there historically and in careful pronunciation.