Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme.

The plan becomes more flexible if we work at home.

Breakdown of Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme.

• vi: we
• jobbe: to work
• hvis: if
• bli: to become
• hjemme: at home
• planen: the plan
• mer fleksibel: more flexible

Questions & Answers about Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme.

Why is blir used instead of er in Planen blir mer fleksibel?

Blir literally means becomes or will be / gets.
So Planen blir mer fleksibel = The plan becomes / will be more flexible.

If you said Planen er mer fleksibel, that means The plan is more flexible (a simple statement of fact, not a change or consequence).

In this sentence, the flexibility is a result of the condition (if we work from home), so Norwegian prefers blir to show that change or resulting state.

Why is the verb in present tense (blir, jobber) if it is talking about the future?

Norwegian very often uses the present tense for future meaning when the future is clear from context, especially in if-clauses.

• Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme.
  = The plan will be more flexible if we work from home.

You could also express future with skal or kommer til å, but here the plain present tense is the most natural and neutral:

• Planen skal bli mer fleksibel sounds more like a plan or intention.
• Planen kommer til å bli mer fleksibel sounds more like a prediction.

In everyday speech, the simple present (blir, jobber) is usually enough.

Why is there no comma before hvis in Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme?

In Norwegian, you usually do not put a comma before a short conditional clause starting with hvis when it comes directly after the main clause:

• Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme. ✅

You do use a comma when the hvis-clause comes first:

• Hvis vi jobber hjemme, blir planen mer fleksibel. ✅

So:

• Main clause + hvis-clause: usually no comma.
• Hvis-clause + main clause: comma after the clause.

Why is the word order hvis vi jobber hjemme and not hvis jobber vi hjemme?

In Norwegian:

• In main clauses, the verb is usually in second position (V2 rule):
  Vi jobber hjemme. / Nå jobber vi hjemme.

• In subordinate clauses (introduced by words like hvis, fordi, at, som), the verb normally comes after the subject, not in second overall position.

So:

• Main clause word order: Vi jobber hjemme.
• Subordinate clause: hvis vi jobber hjemme (subject vi before verb jobber).

Hvis jobber vi hjemme would sound ungrammatical in Norwegian in this context.

Can I move the hvis-clause to the beginning, like in English?

Yes. Both word orders are correct:

• Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme.
• Hvis vi jobber hjemme, blir planen mer fleksibel.

When you put hvis vi jobber hjemme first, you must:

1. Use a comma after the hvis-clause.
2. Invert subject and verb in the main clause because of the V2 rule:
   …, blir planen mer fleksibel (verb blir before subject planen).

Why is it mer fleksibel and not something like fleksiblere?

The adjective fleksibel forms the comparative with mer:

• fleksibel → mer fleksibel (more flexible)
• interessant → mer interessant

Some adjectives add -ere instead:

• billig → billigere (cheaper)
• stor → større (bigger)

How do you know?
Many adjectives with three or more syllables (often words borrowed from other languages, like fleksibel, moderne, interessant) use mer instead of -ere.

So mer fleksibel is the correct comparative form.

Why is it Planen with -en at the end?

Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of in front:

• en plan = a plan
• planen = the plan

So Planen blir mer fleksibel literally is The-plan becomes more flexible.

Plan is a masculine noun (en plan), so its definite singular form is planen.

Where would ikke go if I want to say The plan does not become more flexible if we work from home?

In this sentence, ikke normally comes after the verb in the main clause:

• Planen blir ikke mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme.

If you move the hvis-clause to the front, V2 still applies and ikke stays after the verb:

• Hvis vi jobber hjemme, blir planen ikke mer fleksibel.

So the pattern in a main clause is typically:

[Subject] + [Verb] + ikke + (rest of the sentence)
→ Planen blir ikke mer fleksibel …

What is the difference between hvis vi jobber hjemme and hvis vi jobber hjemmefra?

Both are possible, but they don’t feel exactly the same:

• jobber hjemme
  = work at home (focus on the place where you are while working)

• jobber hjemmefra
  = work from home (emphasises that home is your starting point, as opposed to the office)

In practice, jobber hjemme often corresponds to English work from home and is very common in everyday speech.
Jobber hjemmefra sounds a bit more explicitly contrastive: not from the office, but from home.

So your sentence would also work as:

• Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemmefra.

Can I use dersom or om instead of hvis?

Yes, in many contexts they can replace each other:

• Planen blir mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme.
• Planen blir mer fleksibel dersom vi jobber hjemme.
• Planen blir mer fleksibel om vi jobber hjemme.

Subtle differences:

• hvis – most common, neutral if.
• dersom – a bit more formal or written; often interchangeable with hvis.
• om – can mean if or whether; in some regions it’s used very much like hvis. In standard written language, om is more common for whether (e.g. Jeg vet ikke om han kommer).

How would I turn this into a question: Will the plan be more flexible if we work from home?

You keep the hvis-clause the same and apply the normal Norwegian question word order (verb first) in the main clause:

• Blir planen mer fleksibel hvis vi jobber hjemme?

Structure:

• Main clause (question): Blir planen mer fleksibel …? (verb blir first)
• Subordinate if-clause, unchanged: hvis vi jobber hjemme.