Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg først et lite tankekart.

When I plan a talk, I first make a small mind map.

Breakdown of Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg først et lite tankekart.

• jeg: I
• liten: small
• et: a
• planlegge: to plan
• når: when
• lage: to make
• først: first
• foredraget: the talk
• tankekartet: the mind map

Questions & Answers about Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg først et lite tankekart.

Why is there a comma before lager in this sentence?

In Norwegian, you normally put a comma between a subordinate clause and the main clause.

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag = subordinate clause (introduced by når)
• lager jeg først et lite tankekart = main clause

So you must write:

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg først et lite tankekart.

This rule is quite strict in written Norwegian, unlike modern English, where the comma is sometimes optional.

Why is the word order lager jeg and not jeg lager after the comma?

Norwegian main clauses normally follow the V2 rule: the verb is in second position in the clause.

When a subordinate clause comes first, the entire subordinate clause counts as position 1. Then, in the following main clause, the finite verb must come next (position 2), before the subject:

• Position 1: Når jeg planlegger et foredrag,
• Position 2: lager (verb)
• Position 3: jeg (subject)
• Position 4+: først et lite tankekart

If you started directly with the subject, jeg lager, the verb would end up in position 3, which breaks the V2 rule for main clauses. That’s why lager jeg is correct here.

In the first part, why is the word order jeg planlegger, not planlegger jeg?

The first part, Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, is a subordinate clause introduced by når.
In subordinate clauses, Norwegian does not use the V2 rule in the same way. The normal order is:

• Subordinating conjunction: når
• Subject: jeg
• Verb: planlegger
• Rest: et foredrag

So in a subordinate clause:

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag ✔
• Når planlegger jeg et foredrag ✘ (sounds wrong in standard written Norwegian)

Why is når used here instead of da? Both can mean when, right?

Both når and da can translate to when, but they’re used differently:

• når =

  • whenever / every time (in general) → repeated or general actions
  • also used for future time

• da =

  • when (that time) → one specific event in the past

In this sentence, we are talking about a general habit (every time I plan a talk, I make a mind map), so we use når:

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg først et lite tankekart.
  (Whenever I plan a lecture, I first make a small mind map.)

If you were talking about one specific past occasion, you would use da:

• Da jeg planla det første foredraget mitt, laget jeg et tankekart.
  (When I planned my first lecture, I made a mind map.)

Why is it et foredrag and not en foredrag? How do I know which article to use?

In Norwegian, nouns have grammatical gender:

• en = common gender (often called masculine)
• ei = feminine (often optional; many speakers use en instead)
• et = neuter

The noun foredrag (a talk, lecture, presentation) is neuter, so it takes et:

• et foredrag – foredraget – flere foredrag – foredragene

You simply have to learn the gender of each noun; there’s no reliable rule from the ending alone. Dictionaries usually mark gender:

• foredrag n. or foredrag (n) → neuter → et foredrag

Could I say en presentasjon instead of et foredrag? Do they mean the same thing?

They overlap, but they’re not identical:

• et foredrag

  • a lecture, a (usually spoken) talk
  • often more formal, like at a conference, seminar, or public event

• en presentasjon

  • a presentation
  • can be spoken, visual (slides), sales pitch, short introduction of a topic or a person, etc.

In everyday speech they can sometimes be interchangeable, especially if you mean a talk with slides:

• Når jeg planlegger en presentasjon, lager jeg først et lite tankekart. ✔

But if you mean a more lecture-style, academic or public talk, foredrag is the more specific choice.

What exactly does tankekart mean? Is it a common word?

Tankekart is a compound noun:

• tanke = thought
• kart = map

So et tankekart = a mind map (a visual map of ideas, often branching out from a central concept).

It is a normal, understandable word in Norwegian, especially in school, education, and productivity contexts. Some related forms:

• å lage et tankekart – to make a mind map
• tankekartet – the mind map
• flere tankekart – several mind maps

Why is it et lite tankekart and not et liten tankekart or en liten tankekart?

Two things are happening here: the noun’s gender and the adjective ending.

1. Gender of the noun

   • tankekart is neuter → et tankekart, not en tankekart

2. Adjective agreement
   The adjective liten (small, little) has different forms:

   • Common gender (en): en liten hund
   • Feminine (ei): ei lita bok
   • Neuter (et): et lite hus
   • Plural: små hus

   Since tankekart is neuter, you must use the neuter form:

   • et lite tankekart ✔
   • et liten tankekart ✘
   • en liten tankekart ✘ (wrong gender + wrong adjective form)

Could I leave out først or put it somewhere else, like Jeg lager først et lite tankekart?

Yes, you can move først or leave it out, but the nuance changes a little.

Original:

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg først et lite tankekart.
  Focus: the mind map is the first step in that planning process.

Alternative word orders:

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg et lite tankekart først.
  Similar meaning, først is a bit less prominent.

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, så lager jeg først et lite tankekart.
  Adding så is more informal and spoken-like.

If you remove it:

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg et lite tankekart.
  Now you just state that you make a mind map; you don’t say it’s the first thing you do.

Why is the present tense used (planlegger, lager) when we mean whenever I plan?

Norwegian present tense is often used for general truths, habits, and repeated actions, where English might use a similar simple present:

• Jeg trener hver dag. – I work out every day.
• Hun drikker kaffe om morgenen. – She drinks coffee in the morning.

Here:

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag, lager jeg først et lite tankekart.

This describes a habitual action: every time you plan a talk, you do this. Present tense is exactly what you want in Norwegian for that meaning. You don’t need an extra word like usually or tend to.

Could I say Når jeg skal planlegge et foredrag instead of Når jeg planlegger et foredrag?

You can, but the nuance changes:

• Når jeg planlegger et foredrag

  • neutral, describes what happens during the planning process in general.

• Når jeg skal planlegge et foredrag

  • focuses more on the moment before or the intention to start planning:
    When I am going to plan a lecture…

Both can be followed by lager jeg først et lite tankekart, but planlegger is simpler and more typical for a general habit description.

Is there any difference between å lage and å gjøre here? Could I say … gjør jeg først et lite tankekart?

In this context, you should use å lage, not å gjøre.

• å lage = to make, create, produce something (often concrete or clearly defined)

  • å lage et tankekart – to make a mind map
  • å lage middag – to make dinner

• å gjøre = to do, perform (more general)

  • å gjøre lekser – to do homework
  • Hva gjør du? – What are you doing?

Saying … gjør jeg først et lite tankekart sounds unnatural. For creating a mind map, lage is the idiomatic verb.

How would the sentence look in the past tense?

If you want to talk about a habit in the past, you normally keep når (if it was a repeated habit) and put the verbs in the past:

• Når jeg planla et foredrag, laget jeg først et lite tankekart.
  (When I planned a lecture, I would first make a small mind map.)

Verb forms:

• planlegger → planla (past)
• lager → laget (past; in Bokmål often written lagde as well)

If it was a single specific event in the past, you would combine that with da:

• Da jeg planla foredraget, laget jeg først et lite tankekart.