Learn Hardcore Norwegian: I helgen vil jeg koble fra og lese i dagboken min. - This weekend I want to disconnect and read in my diary.

I helgen = “this weekend” / “over the weekend” (upcoming or just passed, depending on context)
You don’t normally say på helgen in this meaning.

You can say:

denne helgen = “this (specific) weekend” – a bit more explicit/emphatic
forrige helg = “last weekend”
neste helg = “next weekend”

So I helgen vil jeg … is the most natural, everyday way to say “This weekend I will / I want to …”

Does I helgen mean this weekend or last weekend?

On its own, I helgen is ambiguous; it just means “in the weekend / over the weekend” and context decides:

Talking about the future:
- I helgen vil jeg koble fra … = “This coming weekend I want to disconnect …”
Talking about the past:
- I helgen koblet jeg fra og leste i dagboken min. = “This past weekend I disconnected and read my diary.”

If you need to be precise without context, you use:

forrige helg = last weekend
neste helg = next weekend

Why is the word order I helgen vil jeg … instead of I helgen jeg vil …?

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb (here: vil) must come second in the sentence.

In this sentence:

I helgen = first element (time phrase)
vil = finite verb (must be in second position)
jeg = subject
koble fra og lese i dagboken min = rest of the sentence

So:

I helgen vil jeg koble fra … ✅
I helgen jeg vil koble fra … ❌ (breaks the V2 rule)

You could also say:

Jeg vil koble fra i helgen. – here jeg is first, vil is still second, so it’s also correct.

What exactly does vil mean here? Is it “will” or “want to”?

vil can express both intention/willingness and a kind of future meaning, and often it overlaps both:

Jeg vil koble fra.
- Could be understood as “I want to disconnect.” (intention/desire)
- In context, also works as “I’m going to / I will disconnect.”

Compare with skal:

Jeg skal koble fra i helgen.
- More like: “I’m going to disconnect this weekend / I’m supposed to disconnect this weekend” (plan/arrangement).

In your sentence, vil sounds more like a personal choice or wish than a fixed plan.

Why is it koble fra? What does that literally mean, and how is it used?

å koble fra literally comes from “to disconnect / unplug (a connection)”:

Technically: koble fra strømmen = disconnect the power
Figuratively (as here): koble fra = disconnect from work, screens, stress → “unplug”, “switch off (mentally)”.

Similar expression:

å koble av – also common, very close in meaning: “unwind, relax, disconnect”.

In this context:

koble fra ≈ “disconnect, switch off” (from everyday stress, social media, etc.)

Why is it lese i dagboken min and not just lese dagboken min?

Both are grammatically possible, but there’s a nuance:

lese i [bok/dagbok/avis]
- Focus on reading in it for a while, spending time with it.
- Common idiomatic way to talk about reading part of a book/diary, not necessarily all of it.
lese [bok/dagbok]
- More like reading the text as a whole object (e.g., “read the entire book”).

So:

lese i dagboken min ≈ “read in my diary / read from my diary (for a while)” – very natural in Norwegian.
lese dagboken min could sound more like “go through/read the diary (as a whole)”, and is less idiomatic in this everyday context.

Why is it dagboken min and not min dagbok? Are both correct?

Norwegian allows two positions for possessive pronouns:

Preposed possessive (before the noun):
- min dagbok
Postposed possessive (after the noun, which is then definite):
- dagboken min

Both are grammatically correct, but:

dagboken min (definite + possessive after) is the most natural, neutral way in everyday speech here.
min dagbok is also possible; it can sound:
- slightly more formal or written, or
- more contrastive/emphatic (e.g., not someone else’s diary).

Also note the forms:

en dagbok → dagboken → dagboken min (Bokmål, masculine)
In some Bokmål/dialects you may hear: ei dagbok → dagboka → dagboka mi (feminine)

Why do we have both the definite ending -en and the possessive min? Isn’t that double?

This is normal in Norwegian when the possessive pronoun comes after the noun:

en dagbok = a diary
dagboken = the diary
dagboken min = the diary of mine → “my diary”

So the pattern is:

[noun + definite suffix] + [possessive]
- boken min = my book
- huset vårt = our house
- vennene deres = their friends

It’s not considered “double” in a wrong way; it’s simply how the language works with postposed possessives.

Could you also say I helga vil jeg koble fra og lese i dagboka mi?

Yes, that’s also correct in many varieties of Bokmål and in a lot of spoken Norwegian:

helga instead of helgen
dagboka mi instead of dagboken min

Differences:

helgen / dagboken min – more standard East Norwegian / “textbook” Bokmål (with masculine -en).
helga / dagboka mi – more typical of dialects and of Bokmål that keeps feminine gender.

Both styles are acceptable in Bokmål; you just normally stay consistent within one style.

Is there any difference between og lese i dagboken min and og å lese i dagboken min?

In Norwegian, after modal verbs like vil, you do not repeat å before the second verb when they share the same subject:

Jeg vil koble fra og lese i dagboken min. ✅
Jeg vil koble fra og å lese i dagboken min. ❌ (unnatural here)

Rule of thumb:

After vil, skal, kan, må, bør, pleier, use bare infinitives:
- Jeg vil reise og besøke henne.
- Han skal jobbe og studere.

You normally only use å if you’re starting a new infinitive clause that doesn’t share exactly the same structure, which isn’t the case here.