Breakdown of Jeg ser yoga-videoen på nettbrettet før jeg legger meg.
Questions & Answers about Jeg ser yoga-videoen på nettbrettet før jeg legger meg.
In Norwegian, å legge seg is a reflexive verb that means “to go to bed / to lie down to sleep.”
- å legge (non‑reflexive) = “to lay/put something down” (you act on an object)
- Jeg legger boka på bordet. – I lay/put the book on the table.
- å legge seg (reflexive) = “to go to bed / to lie down” (you act on yourself)
- Jeg legger meg. – I go to bed / I’m going to sleep.
Because in the sentence you’re talking about yourself going to bed, you must use the reflexive pronoun meg: jeg legger meg.
Norwegian uses the definite form when the speaker and listener both know which specific thing is meant, or when it’s understood from the situation.
- Jeg ser en yoga-video. – I watch a yoga video (just some yoga video, not specified).
- Jeg ser yoga-videoen. – I watch the yoga video (a particular one, perhaps a favorite or one already mentioned).
In this sentence, yoga-videoen suggests that the speaker has a specific, known video (for example, a regular evening routine video). If you want to say you watch any random yoga video, you could say:
- Jeg ser en yoga-video på nettbrettet før jeg legger meg.
Yes, yogavideoen (one word) is also correct in Bokmål.
Norwegian typically writes compound nouns as one word:
- video
- øvelse → videoøvelse
- yoga
- video → yogavideo
However, hyphens are sometimes used, especially when the first part is a foreign word or when a hyphen makes the word easier to read. That’s why you may see:
- yogavideoen
- yoga-videoen
Both are acceptable; yogavideoen is more in line with the usual “one-long-word” Norwegian style.
The preposition på is commonly used with screens and devices when you mean “on (the screen of) something.”
- på telefonen – on the phone
- på TV-en – on the TV
- på PC-en – on the computer
- på nettbrettet – on the tablet
So på nettbrettet is the natural way to say “on the tablet (screen).”
Using i nettbrettet would sound like “inside the tablet” physically, which is not what you mean.
Nettbrett is a neuter noun (et nettbrett – a tablet). The definite singular form is built like this:
- et nettbrett – a tablet
- nettbrettet – the tablet
In the sentence, nettbrettet refers to a specific tablet that both the speaker and listener know about (for example “my tablet”). You could also say:
- …på et nettbrett… – “…on a tablet…” (any tablet, not specific)
But på nettbrettet matches the sense of “on the tablet” in everyday speech.
Yes, you can say jeg ser på yoga-videoen, and many native speakers would actually prefer that when they mean “I watch the yoga video.”
Subtle difference:
- å se noe – to see something (more neutral, can be just “see”)
- å se på noe – to look at / watch something (more active watching)
In everyday speech:
- Jeg ser på TV. – I watch TV.
- Jeg ser på en film. – I’m watching a movie.
So for “watching a video,” Jeg ser på yoga-videoen på nettbrettet før jeg legger meg sounds very natural and perhaps even more idiomatic. Jeg ser yoga-videoen… is understandable and not wrong, but ser på emphasizes “watching” more clearly.
You must repeat the subject jeg in the subordinate clause introduced by før:
- Jeg ser yoga-videoen … før jeg legger meg.
In Norwegian, each finite clause normally needs its own subject. Unlike in some languages, you cannot drop it here:
- ❌ …før legger meg – incorrect
- ✅ …før jeg legger meg – correct
This is similar to English:
“You can’t say ‘…before go to bed’; you must say ‘…before I go to bed.’”
Yes, but the nuance is slightly different.
- før jeg legger meg – very common, everyday way to say “before I go to bed” (literally “before I lay myself down”).
- før jeg går til sengs – also correct, but sounds a bit more formal or old-fashioned, less colloquial.
In ordinary conversation, før jeg legger meg is more natural.
These are two different verbs that English often translates with forms of “lie/lay,” which can be confusing:
å legge seg (active, reflexive) – to lay oneself down, to go to bed
- Jeg legger meg klokka elleve. – I go to bed at 11.
å ligge (state) – to lie, to be in a lying position
- Jeg ligger i senga. – I’m lying in bed.
So you legger deg (go to bed), and after that you ligger (are lying in bed). In the sentence, it’s about the action of going to bed, so legger meg is correct.
Norwegian doesn’t have a separate progressive form like English “am watching.” The simple present covers both:
- Jeg ser yoga-videoen.
= “I watch the yoga video.”
or “I am watching the yoga video.” (depending on context)
Norwegian uses context and adverbs (like nå – now) to show if something is happening right now or is a habit:
- Jeg ser yoga-videoen hver kveld. – I watch the yoga video every evening.
- Jeg ser yoga-videoen nå. – I am watching the yoga video now.
The word order før jeg legger meg is fixed in normal Norwegian. The reflexive pronoun meg comes after the verb:
- ✅ jeg legger meg
- ❌ jeg meg legger
Norwegian keeps Subject – Verb – (Object/Reflexive) order inside this clause:
- jeg (subject)
- legger (verb)
- meg (reflexive object)
So you should always say jeg legger meg, vi legger oss, etc.
Yes, you can. That would simply mean:
- Jeg ser videoen på nettbrettet før jeg legger meg.
– I watch the video on the tablet before I go to bed.
The word yoga just specifies what kind of video it is. Without it, it’s any particular video that both people know about. Grammatically, the structure stays the same.