Instruktøren ber oss senke skuldrene og puste dypt inn.

The instructor asks us to lower our shoulders and breathe in deeply.

Breakdown of Instruktøren ber oss senke skuldrene og puste dypt inn.

• og: and
• oss: us
• be: to ask
• skulderen: the shoulder
• instruktøren: the instructor
• senke: to lower
• puste inn: to breathe in
• dypt: deeply

Questions & Answers about Instruktøren ber oss senke skuldrene og puste dypt inn.

What does the -en at the end of Instruktøren mean?

The suffix -en makes the noun Instruktør (instructor) definite: Instruktøren = “the instructor”.

• Instruktør = an instructor
• Instruktøren = the instructor

Norwegian usually adds the definite article as a suffix, instead of using a separate word like English the.

What exactly does ber mean here, and how is it different from spør or sier?

In this sentence, ber (from å be) means “asks (someone to do something)” / “tells (politely) someone to do something.”

• å be (noen om å gjøre noe) = to ask someone to do something / to request
• å spørre (noen om noe) = to ask (a question)
• å si = to say / to tell (neutral, just reporting speech)

So:

• Instruktøren ber oss senke skuldrene…
  = The instructor asks us / tells us (politely) to lower our shoulders.

You would not use spør here, because there is no question; it’s a request/instruction.

Why is it oss and not vi after ber?

Vi and oss are both “we/us,” but:

• vi = subject form (like English we)
• oss = object form (like English us)

In the sentence:

• Instruktøren = subject
• ber = verb
• oss = object (“asks us”)

So it must be oss, not vi, just like in English you say “asks us”, not “asks we”.

Why is there no å before senke and puste? Shouldn’t it be “å senke” and “å puste”?

The “full” form would be:

• Instruktøren ber oss om å senke skuldrene og om å puste dypt inn.

After å be (noen) (om å) gjøre noe, Norwegian often drops both om and å in everyday style, especially when it’s clear that this is a request to do something.

So you can have:

• Instruktøren ber oss om å senke skuldrene.
• Instruktøren ber oss senke skuldrene. (more compact, still correct and natural)

The same applies to puste in the coordinated phrase. The infinitives senke and puste are understood as “to lower” and “to breathe” even without å here because of the verb ber and the structure of the sentence.

Is “Instruktøren ber oss om å senke skuldrene og å puste dypt inn” also correct?

Yes, it is correct.

Some natural variants (all acceptable):

1. Instruktøren ber oss senke skuldrene og puste dypt inn.
2. Instruktøren ber oss om å senke skuldrene og puste dypt inn.
3. Instruktøren ber oss om å senke skuldrene og å puste dypt inn.

(3) is very explicit but can sound a bit more formal or heavy in everyday speech. (1) and (2) are the most common, with (1) being the most compact.

Why is it skuldrene (the shoulders) and not våre skuldre (our shoulders)?

In Norwegian, when talking about body parts that belong to an obvious person, it’s very common to use the definite form of the noun instead of a possessive:

• senke skuldrene = “lower the shoulders” → understood as “lower your/our shoulders”
• vaske hendene = wash (the) hands → wash your hands
• lukke øynene = close (the) eyes → close your eyes

So:

• Instruktøren ber oss senke skuldrene
  literally: “The instructor asks us to lower the shoulders,”
  but naturally understood as: “...lower our shoulders.”

You could say våre skuldre, but here it would sound less idiomatic and more marked; the simple definite skuldrene is what Norwegians normally say.

What form is senke, and is it related to English “sink”?

Senke is the infinitive form of the verb (the base form, “to lower / to sink (something)”).

• å senke = to lower / to make something go down

It is related in meaning to English “to sink”, but the usage is closer to “to lower” when you have a direct object:

• senke skuldrene = lower (your) shoulders
• senke farten = lower the speed / slow down
• skipet synker = the ship is sinking (here the intransitive verb synke is used, not senke)

So, senke is a transitive “to lower” verb here.

Why is it dypt and not dyp before inn?

Dyp is an adjective (deep).
Dypt is the adverb form (deeply).

In Norwegian, adjectives often take a -t ending when used as adverbs:

• rolig (calm) → rolig / rolig (often same form as adjective)
• rask (fast) → raskt (quickly)
• dyp (deep) → dypt (deeply)

Since dypt is describing how you breathe (puste) and not a noun, it must be the adverb form:

• puste dypt inn = breathe in deeply

What is the function of inn in puste dypt inn? Can you just say puste dypt?

Inn is a particle that combines with puste to mean “breathe in / inhale.”

• puste = to breathe (in general)
• puste inn = to breathe in / inhale
• puste ut = to breathe out / exhale

So:

• puste dypt = breathe deeply (could be understood more generally)
• puste dypt inn = clearly inhale deeply

In instructions like this (similar to yoga or relaxation coaching), puste dypt inn emphasizes the inhalation step.

Could you say “Instruktøren ber oss om å senke skuldrene og puste inn dypt” instead? Is puste inn dypt okay?

Yes, “Instruktøren ber oss om å senke skuldrene og puste inn dypt” is grammatically correct and understandable.

However, the most natural word order with this verb + particle + adverb combination is usually:

• puste dypt inn

Norwegian often places adverbs between the main verb and the particle in such combinations:

• puste dypt inn (breathe deeply in)
• puste rolig ut (breathe out calmly)

So:

• puste dypt inn = very natural
• puste inn dypt = correct, but sounds less usual in this kind of instruction.