Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Til frokost spiser barna havregrøt, mens jeg spiser frokostblanding. - For breakfast the children eat oatmeal porridge, while I eat breakfast cereal.

In Norwegian, the verb normally comes in the second position in a main clause (the V2 rule). If you move something in front (like Til frokost), the verb (spiser) must still be second, so the subject (barna) comes after the verb.

Both word orders are correct. The difference is emphasis:

Til frokost spiser barna havregrøt – slightly more emphasis on when (at breakfast).
Barna spiser havregrøt til frokost – more neutral, subject-first word order, like English “The children eat oatmeal for breakfast.”

Why is it til frokost and not på frokost or something else?

For meals, Norwegian almost always uses til:

til frokost – for breakfast
til lunsj – for lunch
til middag – for dinner

So:

Hva spiser du til frokost? – What do you eat for breakfast?

Using på frokost here would be wrong. På can be used with some times (like på mandag = on Monday), but meals take til when you talk about what you eat for that meal.

Why is it barna and not barnene or just barn?

The noun barn (child / children) is a bit irregular:

et barn – a child
barn – children (indefinite plural)
barna – the children (definite plural)

There is no form “barnene” in standard Norwegian.

In the sentence, we mean “the children” (a specific group, probably known from context), so we must use the definite plural barna:

barna = the children

Why is there no article before havregrøt and frokostblanding? Why not en havregrøt or en frokostblanding?

Food items like porridge, cereal, bread, etc. are often treated as mass nouns in Norwegian, just like in English when we say “I eat porridge” (not “a porridge”) or “I eat cereal” (not “a cereal”).

So you normally say:

Jeg spiser havregrøt. – I eat oatmeal / porridge.
Jeg spiser frokostblanding. – I eat breakfast cereal.

You can use an article in some specific contexts, for example:

en skål havregrøt – a bowl of oatmeal
en frokostblanding – a type/brand of cereal (as a countable product)

But in the sentence you gave, we talk about what they typically eat, so we use them without an article.

What exactly does mens mean here? Is it “while” or “whereas”? And why is there a comma before it?

Mens can mean:

“while” in a time sense:
- Jeg hører på musikk mens jeg lager mat. – I listen to music while I cook.
“whereas” / “while” in a contrasting sense:
- Barna liker fotball, mens jeg liker håndball. – The children like football, whereas I like handball.

In your sentence, mens is used mainly in the contrasting sense (“whereas”): the children eat oatmeal, whereas I eat cereal.

There is a comma before mens because it introduces a new clause (a kind of “while/whereas”-clause). Written Norwegian normally separates such clauses with commas.

Why do we repeat spiser in the second part? In English we can say “The children eat oatmeal, while I eat cereal” or “..., while I do.” Could Norwegian say mens jeg frokostblanding?

In Norwegian, you cannot leave out the verb like that. You must repeat it:

… spiser barna havregrøt, mens jeg spiser frokostblanding. ✅
… spiser barna havregrøt, mens jeg frokostblanding. ❌

Norwegian doesn’t have the same kind of verb ellipsis (“while I do”) that English has in this structure. Each clause needs its own conjugated verb (spiser).

Why is it spiser and not something like a continuous form (“are eating”)?

Norwegian has one present tense that covers both English simple present and present continuous:

barna spiser can mean:
- “the children eat” (in general / habitually), or
- “the children are eating” (right now), depending on context.

So:

Til frokost spiser barna havregrøt could be:
- “For breakfast, the children eat oatmeal” (every day / usually), or
- “For breakfast, the children are eating oatmeal” (this particular time),

depending on the situation. You don’t need a separate continuous form.

Why are havregrøt and frokostblanding written as one word instead of two separate words?

Norwegian, like German, loves compound nouns. When two nouns belong together as one concept, they are usually written as one word:

havre (oats) + grøt (porridge) → havregrøt (oatmeal / porridge made from oats)
frokost (breakfast) + blanding (mixture) → frokostblanding (breakfast cereal)

Writing them as two words (havre grøt, frokost blanding) would look wrong and could even change the meaning or just seem ungrammatical.

Could I say Jeg har frokostblanding instead of Jeg spiser frokostblanding?

Jeg har frokostblanding literally means “I have cereal” (I possess some cereal). It does not mean “I am eating cereal” or “I eat cereal (for breakfast).”

To talk about eating/consuming food, you usually use å spise:

Jeg spiser frokostblanding. – I eat cereal / I’m eating cereal.
Barna spiser havregrøt. – The children eat oatmeal / are eating oatmeal.

So in this sentence, spiser is the correct and natural verb.

Why is it jeg and not meg in mens jeg spiser frokostblanding?

Jeg and meg are two different cases of the same pronoun:

jeg – subject form (“I”)
meg – object form (“me”)

You use jeg when the pronoun is the subject of the verb:

Jeg spiser frokostblanding. – I eat cereal.

You use meg when it’s an object:

Hun ser meg. – She sees me.

In your sentence, jeg is the subject of spiser, so you must use jeg, not meg.