Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.

The bus passes our house in the morning.

Breakdown of Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.

• huset: the house
• morgenen: the morning
• bussen: the bus
• om: in
• vårt: our
• passere: to pass

Questions & Answers about Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.

Why is it bussen and not just buss at the beginning?

Bussen is the definite form of buss (“bus”). Norwegian usually shows definiteness with an ending on the noun:

• en buss = a bus (indefinite)
• bussen = the bus (definite)

In this sentence, we’re talking about a specific, known bus (typically a bus on a particular route), so Norwegian uses the definite form.

English often uses the definite too here (“The bus passes our house in the morning”), so the two languages match in this case. However, note that in Norwegian, the “the” is usually expressed as a suffix on the noun, not a separate word in front of it.

Why is the verb in the simple present passerer and not something like “is passing”?

Norwegian doesn’t have a separate present continuous form like English (“is passing”). The simple present covers all these meanings:

• Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.
  = The bus passes / is passing / does pass our house in the morning.

Here, the simple present is used for a habitual or regular action, similar to English:
“The bus passes our house in the morning” (every morning, regularly).

If you want to emphasize that it is happening right now, you’d usually add an adverb or context, but the verb form itself would still be present:

• Nå passerer bussen huset vårt. = Now the bus is passing our house.

What is the structure huset vårt? Why do we have both a definite ending -et and the possessive vårt?

Huset vårt literally means “the house our”, but it translates as “our house”.

Norwegian often uses double definiteness when a noun is both definite and possessed:

1. The noun takes a definite ending:
   
   • hus (house) → huset (the house)
2. The possessive pronoun follows the noun:
   
   • huset vårt = our house

So:

• hus = house
• huset = the house
• vårt hus = our house (no definite ending)
• huset vårt = our house (definite ending + possessive after)

Both vårt hus and huset vårt are grammatically correct, but huset vårt (noun + definite ending + possessive after) is more common and neutral in many contexts, especially for “our house / our home”.

What’s the difference between huset vårt and vårt hus?

Both mean “our house”, but there are subtle differences:

• huset vårt

  • Very common, especially in spoken Norwegian.
  • Feels a bit more concrete and specific: the house that belongs to us.
  • Often used for “our home” in an everyday sense.

• vårt hus

  • Also correct.
  • Can sound a bit more formal, contrastive, or stylistic, depending on context.
  • Could be used if you want to stress “our” more, e.g., Vårt hus er rødt, ikke blått. (“Our house is red, not blue.”)

In a neutral sentence like this one, huset vårt is the most natural phrasing.

Why is the possessive vårt and not vår or våre?

The form of the possessive pronoun vår (“our”) must agree with the gender and number of the noun it modifies.

For hus (“house”):

• hus is a neuter noun (et hus).
• Neuter singular indefinite: et hus
• Neuter singular definite: huset

The possessive forms of “our” are:

• vår – for masculine/feminine singular nouns (e.g. vår bil = our car)
• vårt – for neuter singular nouns (e.g. vårt hus = our house)
• våre – for all plurals (e.g. våre hus = our houses)

Since hus is neuter singular, we use vårt → huset vårt.

Why is it om morgenen and not something like i morgenen?

Om morgenen is a fixed, natural way to say “in the morning / in the mornings” when you mean something that regularly happens at that part of the day.

• om morgenen = in the morning (generally, habitually)
• i morgenen is not idiomatic Norwegian for this meaning.

Useful patterns:

• om morgenen = in the morning(s)
• om kvelden = in the evening(s)
• om natten = at night
• om sommeren = in the summer (every summer / in summertime)

So in this sentence, om morgenen tells us about a regular, habitual time when the action takes place.

Does om morgenen mean “in the morning” or “every morning”?

It typically suggests something that happens regularly in the mornings, so in practice it often means “in the morning(s)” or “every morning”.

Context decides how strongly “every” is felt:

• Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.
  → The bus passes our house in the morning / in the mornings (regular schedule).

For “every morning” you can also explicitly say:

• hver morgen = every morning
  Bussen passerer huset vårt hver morgen.

So:

• om morgenen – general, habitual mornings
• hver morgen – explicitly every single morning

What’s the difference between om morgenen and i morgen?

They mean completely different things:

• om morgenen

  • Literally: about/on/in the morning
  • Meaning: in the morning(s) (regularly, as a time of day)

• i morgen

  • Literally: in tomorrow
  • Meaning: tomorrow (the next day in time)

Examples:

• Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.
  The bus passes our house in the morning(s).

• Bussen passerer huset vårt i morgen.
  The bus will pass our house tomorrow. (refers to one particular day, the next day)

So:

• morgen = morning (time of day)
• i morgen = tomorrow (a different word/phrase altogether)

Could I also say på morgenen instead of om morgenen?

In everyday speech, you will hear both, but om morgenen is the most standard and neutral way to express “in the morning(s)” as a regular time.

Nuances (which can vary by region and style):

• om morgenen

  • Very common, especially in writing.
  • Clearly expresses a general or habitual time.

• på morgenen

  • Also used, often in spoken Norwegian.
  • Can feel a bit more colloquial or regional.

In a learner-friendly, standard sentence like this, om morgenen is the safest and most typical choice.

Why doesn’t the verb need a preposition like “forbi” (past/by)? Why is it just passerer huset vårt?

The verb å passere already means “to pass (by)” or “go past”, and it can take a direct object:

• Bussen passerer huset vårt.
  → The bus passes our house.

You do not need to add forbi here. In fact, if you added it, it would usually be either ungrammatical or redundant in this exact structure.

Compare with a different verb:

• Bussen kjører forbi huset vårt.
  The bus drives past our house.

Here the verb is å kjøre (“to drive”), so we add forbi (“past”) to express the direction.

With passere, the “past/by” meaning is already included in the verb itself.

Is huset vårt the same as saying “our home,” or would that be something else in Norwegian?

Huset vårt usually does mean “our house”, and in everyday conversation it often effectively means “our home”, because your house is your home.

However, Norwegian also has the word hjem (“home”):

• hjemmet vårt = our home (more literally)
• huset vårt = our house (often = our home in context)

In this sentence:

• Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.
  The bus passes our house in the morning.

Using huset vårt feels very natural because we’re talking about a physical building next to the road.

How would I say “Buses pass our house in the morning” (plural buses) in Norwegian?

You make bussen plural (busser in indefinite, bussene in definite) and adapt the sentence:

• Busser passerer huset vårt om morgenen.
  → Buses pass our house in the morning. (some buses, generally)

If you want the buses (definite plural), you can say:

• Bussene passerer huset vårt om morgenen.
  → The buses pass our house in the morning.

The rest of the sentence (passerer huset vårt om morgenen) stays the same.

Can I move om morgenen to the front: Om morgenen passerer bussen huset vårt? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is correct and very natural. Norwegian allows you to put the time expression first, and then you apply the V2 rule (verb in second position):

1. Om morgenen – time expression (occupies position 1)
2. passerer – verb (must be in position 2)
3. bussen – subject
4. huset vårt – object

So:

• Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.
• Om morgenen passerer bussen huset vårt.

Both mean the same thing. The second version gives a bit more emphasis to the time (“In the morning, the bus passes our house”).

Can I drop vårt and just say Bussen passerer huset om morgenen?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but it changes the meaning slightly.

• Bussen passerer huset vårt om morgenen.
  The bus passes our house in the morning.

• Bussen passerer huset om morgenen.
  The bus passes the house in the morning. (some specific house already known from context, but not explicitly “ours”)

If your goal is to say that the house belongs to you, you should keep vårt. Dropping it removes the possessive meaning.

How do I pronounce bussen and passerer? Anything important for an English speaker to know?

Key points:

• bussen

  • u is like the vowel in English “book” but typically a bit more rounded.
  • Double ss = short vowel + strong s sound.
  • Roughly: BOO-sen (with a short “oo” as in “book”).

• passerer

  • Stress is usually on the second syllable: pa-SE-rer.
  • Norwegian a is like “a” in “father”.
  • e is often like the “e” in “bed” (but a bit shorter).

A rough approximation: pa-SEH-rer (with a clear, short e sound and rolled or tapped r if you can).