Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Bakgrunnsstøyen i rommet gjør at høyttaleren høres dårlig ut. - The background noise in the room makes the loudspeaker sound bad.

The ending -en is the definite singular article for most masculine (and many feminine) nouns in Norwegian. It corresponds to English “the” placed at the end of the noun instead of in front of it.

bakgrunnsstøy = background noise
bakgrunnsstøyen = the background noise
høyttaler = loudspeaker
høyttaleren = the loudspeaker

So the sentence is specifically about the background noise in the room and the loudspeaker, not noise or loudspeakers in general.

How is the long word bakgrunnsstøyen built up?

bakgrunnsstøyen is a compound noun with a definite ending:

bakgrunn = background
støy = noise
→ bakgrunnsstøy = background noise
-en (definite ending) = the

So:

bakgrunn + støy + -en → bakgrunnsstøyen
= the background noise

Norwegian often creates long compound nouns like this instead of using separate words with “of”, as English does.

Why is it i rommet and not something like på rommet?

Both i rommet and på rommet can exist in Norwegian, but they’re used a bit differently.

i rommet = in the room (literally inside the physical space)
- Neutral, physical, spatial meaning
- Very natural here when talking about sound conditions in that space
på rommet = in the room too, but often:
- More idiomatic when referring to someone’s room:
  - Han sitter på rommet sitt. = He’s in his room.
- Slightly more about being located “at that room” than about the interior space itself

Since we’re talking about noise inside the room as an acoustic environment, i rommet is the most straightforward choice.

What does gjør at mean here, and how is it used?

gjøre means to do / to make, and at is the conjunction that.

Together, gjør at is a very common pattern meaning:

“causes (so) that …”
“makes (it so) that …”

So:

Bakgrunnsstøyen i rommet gjør at høyttaleren høres dårlig ut.
= The background noise in the room causes it so that the loudspeaker sounds bad.

You can think of it as:

X gjør at Y = X causes Y / X makes Y happen

Why is it høres and not just hører?

høre means to hear.
høres is the -s form and here it functions like “to be heard / to sound”.

høyttaleren høres dårlig ut
= literally “the loudspeaker is heard badly out”
= naturally in English: “the loudspeaker sounds bad”

The -s form (høres) is often used in Norwegian in a passive / “middle voice” sense:

Det høres bra ut. = That sounds good.
Det høres vanskelig ut. = That sounds difficult.

So we use høres (not hører) when we talk about how something sounds, not about actively hearing something.

Why do we say høres dårlig ut and not just høres dårlig?

The combination høres … ut is a very common and natural idiom in Norwegian. It corresponds closely to English “sounds …” when describing impressions:

Det høres bra ut. = That sounds good.
Det høres kjedelig ut. = That sounds boring.
Høyttaleren høres dårlig ut. = The loudspeaker sounds bad.

You can technically say høres dårlig, and it’s not wrong, but:

høres dårlig ut sounds more idiomatic and conversational
Without ut, it can sound a bit more formal or incomplete in everyday speech

So the pattern høres + adjective + ut is what you’ll generally want to use for “sounds + adjective”.

Why is the word order gjør at høyttaleren høres dårlig ut and not gjør at høres høyttaleren dårlig ut?

After at (that), you’re in a subordinate clause in Norwegian. The basic word order there is:

Subject – (adverbs/negation) – Verb – …

So:

høyttaleren (subject)
høres (verb)
dårlig ut (predicative + particle)

→ … at høyttaleren høres dårlig ut.

Putting the verb first (… at høres høyttaleren …) would sound wrong, because the V2 rule (verb in second position) applies mainly to main clauses, not to subordinate clauses after at, som, fordi, etc.

Why is it rommet with -et, but høyttaleren with -en?

This is about grammatical gender:

rom (room) is neuter:
- et rom = a room
- rommet = the room (-et definite ending for neuter nouns)
høyttaler (loudspeaker) is masculine:
- en høyttaler = a loudspeaker
- høyttaleren = the loudspeaker (-en definite ending)

So:

-et = definite singular ending for neuter nouns
-en = definite singular ending for masculine (and many feminine) nouns

Why is the adjective dårlig and not dårlige in høres dårlig ut?

Norwegian adjectives have different forms depending on how they’re used.

Here, dårlig is used predicatively (after the verb) and refers to a singular subject (høyttaleren):

Høyttaleren høres dårlig ut.
- singular subject → dårlig (no -e)

Compare with attributive use (before a noun):

en dårlig høyttaler = a bad loudspeaker
to dårlige høyttalere = two bad loudspeakers

So:

Predicative, singular: høyttaleren er / høres dårlig
Plural: høyttalerne er / høres dårlige

Could this sentence be rephrased in other natural ways in Norwegian?

Yes, several variants would be natural, for example:

Det er så mye bakgrunnsstøy i rommet at høyttaleren høres dårlig ut.
= There is so much background noise in the room that the loudspeaker sounds bad.
Bakgrunnsstøyen i rommet gjør det vanskelig å høre høyttaleren.
= The background noise in the room makes it difficult to hear the loudspeaker.
På grunn av bakgrunnsstøyen i rommet høres høyttaleren dårlig ut.
= Because of the background noise in the room, the loudspeaker sounds bad.

The original sentence is already very natural; these are just stylistic alternatives.

Are there any tricky pronunciation points in Bakgrunnsstøyen i rommet gjør at høyttaleren høres dårlig ut?

A few things to watch:

øy in støyen and høyttaleren / høres
- A single vowel sound, roughly like the “oy” in boy, but with more rounded lips and more in the front of the mouth.
gjør
- Pronounced approximately like “yur” (with a rounded ø sound): /jøːr/
- g
  - j here sound like a “y” sound.
Double / cluster consonants:
- bakgrunnsstøyen has a cluster -nnsst-; say it smoothly as one word, stress on BAK-:
  - BAK-grunns-støy-en
- rommet has a long m and a clear -et at the end: ROM-met.
Sentence stress:
- Main stress will typically fall on:
  - bakgrunnsstøyen, rommet, høyttaleren, dårlig
- Function words like i, gjør, at, ut are less stressed.

Practising the whole sentence slowly as one rhythmical unit will help it sound more natural.