Etter en lang treningsøkt kjenner hun en liten skade i kneet, så hun hviler.

After a long workout session she feels a small injury in her knee, so she rests.

Breakdown of Etter en lang treningsøkt kjenner hun en liten skade i kneet, så hun hviler.

• hun: she
• en: a
• liten: small
• i: in
• lang: long
• så: so
• etter: after
• hvile: to rest
• kjenne: to feel
• kneet: the knee
• treningsøkten: the workout session
• skaden: the injury

Questions & Answers about Etter en lang treningsøkt kjenner hun en liten skade i kneet, så hun hviler.

Why does the sentence start with Etter en lang treningsøkt instead of starting with the subject hun?

Norwegian allows you to put a time or place expression first in the sentence for emphasis or flow.

The important rule is the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in main clauses.

• Etter en lang treningsøkt (first element)
• kjenner (verb – second position)
• hun (subject – third position)

So:

• Etter en lang treningsøkt kjenner hun ... ✅ (correct V2)
• Etter en lang treningsøkt hun kjenner ... ❌ (verb is not in second place)

You could also say:

• Hun kjenner en liten skade i kneet etter en lang treningsøkt, så hun hviler.

Both word orders are grammatically correct; they just emphasize slightly different things.

Why is it kjenner here and not føler or merker?

All three relate to “feeling” or “noticing,” but they’re used differently:

• kjenner = feels (physically) / is aware of
  
  • Hun kjenner smerte i kneet. – She feels pain in her knee.
• føler = feels in a more emotional or subjective way
  
  • Hun føler seg trøtt. – She feels tired.
  • Hun føler at noe er galt. – She feels that something is wrong.
• merker = notices / detects
  
  • Hun merker en liten skade i kneet. – She notices a small injury in her knee.

In this sentence, kjenner focuses on the physical sensation in the knee.
You could also say Hun merker en liten skade i kneet, but it slightly shifts the nuance to “notices” rather than physically “feels.”
Hun føler en liten skade i kneet would sound odd; you don’t normally use føler with skade.

Why is it en liten skade and not something like litt skade?

In Norwegian:

• skade is a countable noun (“an injury”), so you normally use an article:
  
  • en skade – an injury
  • flere skader – several injuries
• liten is the adjective “small” in common gender singular:
  
  • en liten skade – a small injury

litt is used with uncountable or mass nouns:

• litt vann – a little water
• litt smerte – a little pain

So you say:

• en liten skade (a small injury) ✅
  but not:
• litt skade ❌ (sounds wrong in normal Norwegian)

Why is it i kneet instead of på kneet?

Both i and på can appear with body parts, but they suggest slightly different ideas:

• i kneet = inside the knee, in the joint/structure
  
  • Used for internal pain, damage, or something located in the knee.
• på kneet = on the knee, on the surface/skin
  
  • Used for things like a scratch, bandage, bruise on the outside:
  • Hun har et sår på kneet. – She has a wound on her knee.

Since an injury in this context is understood as something in the joint, i kneet is the natural choice.

Why is it kneet with -et at the end, and what gender is kne?

The noun kne (knee) is neuter in Norwegian.

Neuter nouns behave like this:

• Indefinite singular: et kne – a knee
• Definite singular: kneet – the knee
  (base word kne
  • definite ending -et → kneet)

So:

• i kneet = “in the knee”

If you wanted it indefinite, you would say i et kne (“in a knee”), but with a specific body part you almost always use the definite form: i kneet.

What is the difference between trening and treningsøkt, and why is there an -s- between them?

• trening = training, working out (general concept or activity)
  
  • Jeg liker trening. – I like training.
• økt = a session, a period of activity
  
  • en økt – a session

treningsøkt is a compound noun:

• trening
  • linking -s-
    • økt → treningsøkt
• Literally: training-session

The -s- is a common linking sound in Norwegian compound nouns. It often appears:

• after many nouns ending in -ing:
  
  • treningsøkt, lesestund, innkjøpsliste (here without s, but similar idea)
• or where it “sounds better” or is historically fixed.

So en lang treningsøkt = “a long training session / workout.”
en lang trening is understandable, but usually means “a long period of training” more generally, not a single distinct session as clearly as treningsøkt.

Why is it lang treningsøkt and not lenge treningsøkt?

Norwegian distinguishes:

• lang – adjective: long (used with nouns)
  • en lang treningsøkt – a long training session
  • et langt møte – a long meeting
• lenge – adverb: for a long time (used with verbs)
  • Hun trener lenge. – She trains for a long time.
  • Vi ventet lenge. – We waited a long time.

Here it’s describing the noun treningsøkt, so you must use the adjective lang, not the adverb lenge.

Why is there a comma before så, and what exactly does så mean here?

In this sentence, så is a coordinating conjunction meaning “so / therefore”:

• ..., så hun hviler. = “..., so she rests / so she is resting.”

In Norwegian, when så connects two main clauses, you normally use a comma:

• Det regnet, så vi ble hjemme. – It rained, so we stayed home.
• Hun er sliten, så hun hviler. – She is tired, so she rests.

The comma shows that you have two independent clauses:

1. Etter en lang treningsøkt kjenner hun en liten skade i kneet
2. hun hviler

linked by så = so/therefore.

Why is it så hun hviler and not så hviler hun?

There are actually two different uses of så:

1. Conjunction “so/therefore” – followed by a normal subject–verb order:

   • ..., så hun hviler. – “..., so she rests.”
   • ..., så vi dro hjem. – “..., so we went home.”

2. Adverb “then” – often followed by verb–subject inversion:

   • ... og så hviler hun. – “... and then she rests.”
   • ... og så dro vi hjem. – “... and then we went home.”

In your sentence, så = “so/therefore”, so the regular order is:

• så hun hviler (subject hun before verb hviler).

If you say ..., så hviler hun, it sounds more like “..., then she rests”, a sequence in time rather than a clear cause–effect “so”.

Could you also say ... så hviler hun here, and would it change the meaning?

You can say:

• Etter en lang treningsøkt kjenner hun en liten skade i kneet, så hviler hun.

This is grammatically okay, but the nuance shifts:

• så hun hviler – “so she rests / therefore she rests” (explicit cause–effect)
• så hviler hun – “then she rests” (more like a chronological next step)

Native speakers would usually prefer så hun hviler in this specific sentence, because it makes the reason–consequence relationship clearer.

Why do we use hviler and not slapper av or hviler seg?

All are possible verbs, but with slightly different flavors:

• å hvile – to rest

  • Hun hviler. – She is resting.
  • Neutral, often used when you stop activity to recover.

• å hvile seg – to rest oneself

  • Hun hviler seg.
  • Also correct; a bit more explicit/old-fashioned in some contexts, but still common.

• å slappe av – to relax, chill

  • Hun slapper av. – She is relaxing.
  • Focuses more on relaxing/enjoying, not necessarily on recovering from an injury.

Since the sentence talks about an injury in the knee, hviler matches best: she is resting to recover.
You could say ..., så hun hviler seg, and it would still sound natural. ..., så hun slapper av would be more like “so she relaxes,” which is slightly different in tone.

Why is it en treningsøkt and en liten skade and not et or ei?

Norwegian has three grammatical genders: masculine (en), feminine (ei), and neuter (et).

• økt is grammatically feminine, but in Bokmål you are always allowed to use masculine forms for feminine nouns.
  • Feminine: ei økt, ei treningsøkt
  • Masculine: en økt, en treningsøkt

Many speakers of standard Bokmål prefer the masculine form en treningsøkt, which is what you see here.

• skade is masculine:
  • en skade – an injury
  • Definite: skaden

So:

• en lang treningsøkt ✅
• en liten skade ✅

Using et treningsøkt or et skade would be grammatically wrong.