Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Barna er ikke vant til mørketiden ennå, så vi bruker alltid refleks når vi går til skolen. - The children are not used to the dark season yet, so we always use a reflector when we walk to school.

Barna er ikke vant til mørketiden ennå, så vi bruker alltid refleks når vi går til skolen.

The children are not used to the dark season yet, so we always use a reflector when we walk to school.

Breakdown of Barna er ikke vant til mørketiden ennå, så vi bruker alltid refleks når vi går til skolen.

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Questions & Answers about Barna er ikke vant til mørketiden ennå, så vi bruker alltid refleks når vi går til skolen.

What does barna mean, and why is it not barnene?

Barn means child or children (it is the same in singular and plural in the indefinite form).

The definite forms are irregular:

et barn – a child
barnet – the child
barn – children
barna – the children

There is no form barnene in standard Norwegian. So in this sentence, barna simply means the children.

What does vant til mean, and how is this construction used?

Vant is an adjective meaning used to / accustomed.
The full pattern is å være vant til + noun / verb.

In this sentence:

er ikke vant til mørketiden = are not used to the dark season

Common patterns:

Jeg er vant til kulden. – I am used to the cold.
Hun er vant til å stå opp tidlig. – She is used to getting up early.

So you can think of å være vant til as the Norwegian way to say to be used to.

Why is it er ikke vant til and not er vant ikke til or er vant til ikke?

Norwegian has fairly strict word order for ikke in main clauses:

The finite verb (here er) must come in second position (V2 rule).
Ikke normally comes right after the finite verb, and before most of the rest of the predicate.

So:

Barna er ikke vant til … ✅
Barna er vant ikke til … ❌ (ungrammatical)
Barna er vant til ikke mørketiden. ❌ (ungrammatical here)

With auxiliaries, ikke also comes after the first (finite) verb:

Jeg har ikke sett ham. – I have not seen him.
Vi kan ikke komme. – We cannot come.

So: subject – finite verb – ikke – rest is the normal pattern in main clauses.

What is mørketiden exactly, and how is the word formed?

Grammatically, mørketiden is:

mørke (darkness) + tid (time) → mørketid (dark time / dark season)
mørketid (indefinite) → mørketiden (definite: the dark time / dark season)

So:

mørketid – a dark season / the dark season (general)
mørketiden – the specific dark season being talked about

Culturally, especially in northern Norway, mørketiden often refers to the polar night period when the sun does not rise above the horizon in winter. In other parts of Norway, it can more loosely mean the very dark winter period with short days.

Why is it mørketiden (definite) and not just mørketid?

Norwegian often uses the definite form when talking about a specific, known period or phenomenon, especially seasons or named periods:

vinteren – the winter
sommeren – the summer
julen – (the) Christmas (season)
mørketiden – the (specific) dark season

In this sentence, the children are not used to that particular dark period where they live, so Norwegian naturally uses the definite form mørketiden. Using mørketid (indefinite) would sound more abstract or unnatural here.

What is the difference between ennå and enda, and why is ennå used here?

Both ennå and enda can mean yet / still, but they are used a bit differently, and there is dialectal variation. A good simple guideline:

ennå is preferred in written Bokmål for still / yet (time-related).
enda is more often used for even (degree), like even bigger.

In this sentence:

Barna er ikke vant til mørketiden ennå ≈ The children are not used to the dark season yet.

This is about time (up to now), so ennå fits well.

Examples:

Er du ferdig ennå? – Are you finished yet?
Han er enda høyere. – He is even taller.

Note: In speech, especially in some regions, people often say enda where written Bokmål prefers ennå for yet/still. But for learners writing standard Norwegian, ennå is the safe choice here.

Why is ennå placed at the end of the first clause?

Adverbs like ennå (yet) have some flexibility in Norwegian, but certain positions sound more natural.

In this sentence, you can say:

Barna er ikke vant til mørketiden ennå. ✅ (most natural)
Barna er ennå ikke vant til mørketiden. ✅ (a bit more formal/emphatic)

Placing ennå at the very end is very common when it modifies the whole state up to now (they are not used to it yet). The second version slightly emphasizes still not.

What you wouldn’t normally say is:

Barna er ikke ennå vant til mørketiden. ❌ (feels wrong / unidiomatic)

So: sentence-final ennå is a standard, natural choice.

What does refleks mean here? Is it like an English “reflex”?

No, it is different from the English reflex.

In this context, refleks means a reflective item used for visibility in the dark, such as:

reflective bands
reflective tags or pendants
reflective strips on clothes

In Norway, å bruke refleks commonly means to wear some kind of reflector so that drivers can see you in the dark.

Grammar:

en refleks – a reflector
refleksen – the reflector
reflekser – reflectors
refleksene – the reflectors

In the sentence, vi bruker alltid refleks can mean either:

we always wear a reflector (general)
we always wear reflective gear (collective, non-count sense)

Why is it bruker (present tense) instead of some progressive form like “are using”?

Norwegian does not have a special grammatical progressive tense like English am using / are going. The simple present is used for:

general truths
habitual actions
actions happening right now

So:

Vi bruker alltid refleks … =
– We always use/wear reflectors … (habitual)

Other examples:

Jeg jobber hver dag. – I work every day / I am working every day.
Vi spiser nå. – We eat now / We are eating now.

Context tells you whether it is habitual or happening now. Here, with alltid, it clearly means a habitual action.

Why is it går til skolen and not something like går på skolen or går i skolen?

Til is the normal preposition for movement towards a destination:

gå til skolen – walk to school
kjøre til jobben – drive to work
reise til Norge – travel to Norway

På skolen and i skolen describe location or context, not movement:

Han er på skolen. – He is at school.
Hun jobber i skolen. – She works in the school system/education.

So:

når vi går til skolen – when we walk to school (movement)
når vi er på skolen – when we are at school (location)

Why is it til skolen (with the definite form skolen) instead of just til skole?

Norwegian often uses the definite form with typical daily places, especially when the subject has a clear connection to that place:

til skolen – to (the) school
på skolen – at (the) school
på jobben – at (the) job/work
i barnehagen – in (the) kindergarten

In English we say to school, without the, but Norwegian normally says til skolen.

Til skole is possible in some very abstract phrases, but sounds wrong here. So you should learn these as fixed patterns:

gå til skolen – walk to school
være på skolen – be at school

Why is alltid placed before refleks and after bruker?

In main clauses, the normal order is:

Subject
Finite verb
Mid-position adverbs (like alltid, ofte, ikke)
Object / other elements

So:

vi (subject)
bruker (finite verb)
alltid (adverb)
refleks (object)

→ vi bruker alltid refleks

Other examples:

Jeg spiser alltid frokost. – I always eat breakfast.
De ser ofte film. – They often watch movies.
Vi drikker ikke kaffe. – We do not drink coffee.

You can move alltid for emphasis in more complex sentences, but this is the neutral, standard placement.

Why is it når vi går til skolen and not da vi går til skolen?

Both når and da can relate to time, but they are used differently:

når is used for:
- repeated / habitual actions in the past or present/future
- general conditions: when(ever)
da is used for:
- one single, specific event in the past

In this sentence, når vi går til skolen describes a repeated, habitual situation (every time we go to school), so når is correct.

Compare:

Når vi går til skolen, bruker vi alltid refleks.
– Every time we go to school, we always wear reflectors.
Da vi gikk til skolen i går, regnet det.
– When we walked to school yesterday, it rained. (one specific event)

Is the word order Barna er ikke vant til mørketiden influenced by the Norwegian V2 rule?

Yes, partially.

The V2 rule in Norwegian main clauses says that the finite verb must be in second position in the clause.

In Barna er ikke vant til mørketiden:

Barna – first element (subject)
er – finite verb (must be here, in second position)
ikke vant til mørketiden – the rest of the sentence

If you put something else first, the verb still stays in second place:

I mørketiden er barna ikke vant til kulden.
– In the dark season, the children are not used to the cold.

Structure:

I mørketiden – first element (adverbial)
er – finite verb
barna ikke vant til kulden – rest

So the placement of er in second position is V2, and ikke comes right after that finite verb.