Questions & Answers about Vi skal puste inn rolig.
Skal is a modal verb that often expresses a planned or intended action, similar to “are going to” or “shall” in English.
- Vi puster inn rolig = We breathe in calmly / We are breathing in calmly (a description of what is happening or a general habit).
- Vi skal puste inn rolig = We are going to breathe in calmly (an instruction, plan, or intention for what we are about to do).
In contexts like giving instructions (for example in a yoga class or breathing exercise), skal is very natural, because the speaker is telling you what you are now going to do.
Skal is the present tense form of the modal verb å skulle. Norwegian often uses a present-tense modal + infinitive to talk about future or planned actions.
However, skal does not always equal a simple future; it can express:
- Plan/intention: Vi skal puste inn rolig. – We are going to breathe in calmly.
- Obligation/duty: Du skal gjøre leksene dine. – You must / are supposed to do your homework.
- Rules or fixed arrangements: Møtet skal starte klokka ni. – The meeting is to start at nine.
In your sentence, the meaning is planned/intentional action (an instruction).
After modal verbs like skal, vil, kan, må, bør, Norwegian uses the bare infinitive (without å).
- With å (normal infinitive): å puste – to breathe
- With a modal: skal puste, kan puste, må puste – (will/can/must) breathe
So:
- Vi skal puste inn rolig. – correct
- Vi skal å puste inn rolig. – incorrect
The rule: Modal verb + infinitive verb without å.
In puste inn, inn functions as a verb particle (similar to the particle in English “breathe in”).
- The main verb is puste – to breathe.
- Inn adds the direction “inwards”, making the meaning inhale.
Semantically, inn is an adverb of direction (in(wards)), but in grammar terms we treat puste inn as a particle verb (like an English phrasal verb).
So the core idea is: puste (breathe) + inn (in) → puste inn (to breathe in / to inhale).
Norwegian often has two related forms: one for movement and one for location.
- inn = movement into something
- inne = being inside something
Examples:
- Gå inn. – Go in. (movement)
- Han er inne. – He is inside. (location)
In puste inn, you are describing air moving into the body, so you must use inn, not inne.
Rolig is an adverb here (“calmly”), and Norwegian often places adverbs after the verb phrase, especially in simple main clauses.
Vi skal puste inn rolig. has the neutral, natural order:
- Vi (subject)
- skal (modal verb)
- puste inn (verb + particle)
- rolig (adverb)
You can move rolig, but the feel changes:
- Vi skal rolig puste inn.
- Possible, but sounds more stylistic/poetic or very marked speech. Emphasis on the calm manner.
- Vi skal puste rolig inn.
- Also possible; here, rolig is more closely tied to puste, with inn slightly separated.
The most neutral, everyday choice is Vi skal puste inn rolig.
Rolig is adjectival in form but is used adverbially here.
In Norwegian, many adverbs use the same form as the adjective, without adding an ending like English -ly.
- En rolig person. – a calm person (adjective)
- Han snakker rolig. – he speaks calmly (adverb)
- Vi skal puste inn rolig. – we are going to breathe in calmly (adverb)
So rolig works as both “calm” (adjective) and “calmly” (adverb) without changing form.
Yes, Vi puster inn rolig is grammatically correct, but the nuance changes.
Vi puster inn rolig.
- Describes what is happening right now or as a general fact/habit: We are breathing in calmly / We breathe in calmly.
Vi skal puste inn rolig.
- States a plan or instruction for what we are (now) going to do: We are going to breathe in calmly.
In a guided exercise (like meditation or physiotherapy), Vi skal puste inn rolig is more typical as an instruction.
Yes, puste and its particle inn can be separated, especially when you insert an adverb like rolig. Common options are:
- Vi skal puste inn rolig. (neutral)
- Vi skal puste rolig inn. (also natural)
Both are used and understood. The difference is subtle:
- puste inn rolig can feel like “breathe in, in a calm way” as a whole phrase.
- puste rolig inn makes puste rolig (breathe calmly) feel a bit tighter, with inn tagging on as the direction.
All of these would be understood as the same instruction in normal speech.
Approximate pronunciation in standard East Norwegian (IPA and rough English guide):
Vi – /viː/
- Like English “vee”.
skal – /skɑl/
- sk as in “skate”, a like in “father”, final l pronounced.
- In casual speech, many people say something close to /ska/ (dropping the l).
puste – /ˈpʉstə/
- Stress on pús-.
- u is the Norwegian /ʉ/ sound, something between “oo” and “ee” (lip-rounded).
- Final -e is a weak uh sound (schwa).
inn – /ɪn/
- Like English “in”.
rolig – /ˈruːli/ (in many dialects the g is very soft or nearly silent)
- ro like “roo”, long vowel.
- Final -lig often pronounced -li or -liɡ, depending on dialect.
Said naturally, it flows something like: vee ska(p) pʉstə inn ruːli.
Norwegian verbs do not change form according to person or number. The same form is used with jeg, du, han, hun, vi, dere, de.
For å puste (to breathe), the present tense is puster for all subjects:
- Jeg puster. – I breathe / am breathing.
- Du puster. – You breathe / are breathing.
- Vi puster. – We breathe / are breathing.
In your sentence, puste appears in the infinitive after a modal (skal), and infinitives also do not change with the subject:
- Jeg skal puste inn rolig. – I am going to breathe in calmly.
- Vi skal puste inn rolig. – We are going to breathe in calmly.
Same puste for all persons.
You add ikke (not) after the finite verb skal:
- Vi skal ikke puste inn rolig. – We are not going to breathe in calmly.
Word order pattern in main clauses:
- Subject – finite verb – ikke – rest
So:
- Vi (subject)
- skal (finite verb)
- ikke (negation)
- puste inn rolig (infinitive verb phrase)
The sentence is neutral and very natural in everyday spoken Norwegian.
- It’s perfectly fine in informal situations (friends, family, a yoga class).
- It’s also acceptable in more neutral or semi-formal instructions (a teacher, a physiotherapist).
To make it more clearly instructional or polite, you might change the context or add more words, but the basic sentence itself is stylistically neutral.