Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Barna rutsjer ned sklien og ler mye. - The children slide down the slide and laugh a lot.

In the sentence, we are talking about specific children (the children we see / know about), so Norwegian uses the definite plural barna, not the indefinite barn. There is no form barnene; barna is the correct definite plural form.

What is the basic word order here, and could you move things around?

The word order is the normal Norwegian main-clause pattern:

Subject: Barna
Verb: rutsjer
Adverbial (direction): ned sklien
Conjunction + verb: og ler
Adverb: mye

So: Barna rutsjer ned sklien og ler mye.

You cannot freely move the parts around. For example:

✗ Barna ned sklien rutsjer og mye ler. – wrong
✓ Barna rutsjer ned sklien og ler mye. – natural

You can move ned sklien to the front for emphasis, but then you must keep the verb in second position (V2 rule):

Ned sklien rutsjer barna og ler mye. – correct, but marked/emphatic.

Why is it rutsjer and not rutsje?

Norwegian infinitives usually end in -e:

å rutsje = to slide

In the present tense for regular verbs, you add -r to the infinitive. Many speakers (especially in Bokmål) write this as -er, but the rule is:

infinitive: rutsje
present: rutsjer (pronounced roughly like rut-sher)

So rutsjer means slides / is sliding. You use the same form for all persons:

jeg rutsjer – I slide
du rutsjer – you slide
han/hun rutsjer – he/she slides
vi rutsjer – we slide, etc.

What is the infinitive of ler, and why doesn’t it look like a regular -er verb?

The verb ler comes from the infinitive å le (to laugh):

infinitive: le
present: ler

This is an irregular verb: you do not form the present by just adding -r to the infinitive (*leer would be wrong). You simply have to learn le – ler as a pair, like:

å si – sier (to say – says)
å gå – går (to go – goes)

What does rutsje mean exactly, and is it the same as å skli?

Å rutsje means to slide, usually in a playful way, very often on a playground slide.

Å skli also means to slide / slip, but:

rutsje: often used for children playing on a slide (sklie), or a smooth intentional sliding motion.
skli: more general, and can also mean slipping accidentally (on ice, for example).

In this sentence, both would be understandable:

Barna rutsjer ned sklien – natural, playful feel.
Barna sklir ned sklien – also fine, maybe slightly more neutral.

How does ned sklien work grammatically? Is ned a preposition here?

Ned means down and functions as a directional adverb. In ned sklien, it combines with the noun to form a directional phrase: down the slide.

You can think of it as:

ned = down (direction)
sklien = the slide

Together: ned sklien = (going) down the slide.

You cannot drop ned here if you want to keep the idea of movement downward; Barna rutsjer sklien sounds odd. You need ned to show the direction of movement.

Why is it sklien and not sklie in this sentence?

Sklie is the base form (indefinite singular):

en sklie = a slide

Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun:

sklien = the slide (definite singular)

So:

ned en sklie = down a slide
ned sklien = down the slide

Because the English sentence uses the slide, Norwegian uses sklien, the definite form.

Is sklie masculine or feminine, and what are its forms?

In Bokmål, sklie is normally treated as a feminine noun, but it can also be used as masculine. The most common feminine pattern is:

indefinite singular: ei sklie
definite singular: sklia or sklien
indefinite plural: sklier
definite plural: skliene

You will see both sklia and sklien in the definite singular. In this sentence the author chose sklien, which is very common and fully correct.

Why is there no separate word for the before sklien?

Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word:

English: the slide
Norwegian: sklien (slide + -en = the slide)

You only use a separate word like den + a definite noun when you want extra emphasis or demonstrative meaning (that slide, this slide):

den sklien der = that slide over there

In neutral cases like here, just sklien is correct.

What does mye mean here, and what is the difference between mye and mange?

In ler mye, mye means a lot / much and functions as an adverb modifying the verb ler.

ler mye = laughs a lot / is laughing a lot

Difference:

mye: used with uncountable nouns or as an adverb (how much, to what extent)
- mye vann – much water
- jobber mye – works a lot
mange: used with countable nouns (how many)
- mange barn – many children
- mange bøker – many books

So you say ler mye, never *ler mange, because you are describing how much they laugh, not counting separate laughs.

What tense is this sentence in, and can it mean both “are sliding” and “slide”?

The verbs rutsjer and ler are in the present tense. Norwegian present tense covers both:

English simple present: The children slide down the slide and laugh a lot.
English present progressive: The children are sliding down the slide and laughing a lot.

Context decides whether it is about what is happening right now or something they often do. So this one Norwegian sentence can correspond to both English versions.

How do you pronounce barna, rutsjer, ned, sklien, ler, and mye?

Approximate pronunciation (standard Eastern Norwegian, IPA + rough English hints):

barna – /ˈbɑːɳɑ/
- roughly: BAHR-na (with a retroflex rn sound)
rutsjer – /ˈrʉtʂər/
- roughly: ROOT-sher (the tsj like English sh but a bit sharper)
ned – /neː/
- roughly: neh (long e, final d often very weak or silent)
sklien – /ˈskliːən/
- roughly: SKLEE-en (clear skl cluster at the start)
ler – /leːr/
- roughly: lair (long e)
mye – /ˈmyːə/
- roughly: MEW-eh, with front rounded y (like French u in lune)

These are approximations; exact sounds depend on dialect.