Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Oppvarmingen før treningsøkten gjør kroppen vår klar. - The warm-up before the workout session makes our body ready.

Indefinite singular: oppvarming
Definite singular: oppvarmingen (also oppvarminga in some Bokmål variants)
Indefinite plural: oppvarminger
Definite plural: oppvarmingene

treningsøkt (a training session) – feminine/masculine noun

Indefinite singular: treningsøkt
Definite singular: treningsøkten (also treningsøkta)
Indefinite plural: treningsøkter
Definite plural: treningsøktene

In everyday Bokmål, -en is the most common definite ending, but -a is also correct for many feminine nouns.

What exactly does treningsøkt mean? Is it just “training”?

Treningsøkt is a compound noun:

trening = training / exercise
økt = session / period / bout

So treningsøkt is best translated as training session, workout, or exercise session, i.e. one specific period of training, not training in general.

For general training, you would more often just say trening:

Jeg liker trening. – I like training.

Why is it før treningsøkten and not something like “before of the training session”?

In Norwegian, før works as a preposition here (and also as a conjunction in other contexts).

Structure:

før
- noun phrase

So:

før treningsøkten = before the training session

You do not add another preposition:

✗ før av treningsøkten – incorrect
✓ før treningsøkten

This is parallel to English before the training session, not before of the training session.

Is Oppvarmingen the subject of the sentence? How is the word order working here?

Yes, Oppvarmingen is the subject.

The structure is standard Norwegian S–V–O–C:

Oppvarmingen (subject)
før treningsøkten (prepositional phrase describing the warm‑up)
gjør (verb: makes)
kroppen vår (object: our body)
klar (object complement / predicative adjective: ready)

Norwegian is a V2 language in main clauses: the finite verb (here gjør) must be in second position. Here, the subject comes first, so the verb naturally follows it:

Oppvarmingen … gjør …

If you moved something else to the front, the verb would still stay in second place:

Før treningsøkten gjør oppvarmingen kroppen vår klar.

Why is it kroppen vår (“the body our”) and not vår kropp (“our body”)?

Norwegian allows possessives after or before the noun:

kroppen vår = our body
vår kropp = our body

Both are grammatically correct. The difference is mainly in style and emphasis:

kroppen vår (post‑posed)
- Very common in everyday speech and writing
- Neutral, natural-sounding choice here
vår kropp (pre‑posed)
- Slightly more formal or emphatic
- Often used for contrast: ikke deres kropp, men vår kropp (not their body, but our body)

In this sentence, kroppen vår is exactly what most native speakers would say.

Why singular kroppen vår (“our body”) instead of plural våre kropper (“our bodies”)?

Norwegian often uses a singular noun for a collective or generic meaning, especially with body parts and when talking to a group:

Vi må ta vare på kroppen vår.
Literally: We must take care of our body
Meaning: We must take care of our bodies / our physical health.

Similarly here:

… gjør kroppen vår klar.
= makes our body ready (understood as “each person’s body in the group”).

You can say våre kropper, but that sounds more literal and is less idiomatic in this kind of general statement.

How does the structure gjør kroppen vår klar work? Why the adjective at the end?

This is a very common pattern in Norwegian:

gjøre + object + adjective

It means “make (someone/something) + adjective”:

gjøre meg glad – make me happy
gjøre ham sint – make him angry
gjøre huset rent – make the house clean

In your sentence:

gjør = makes
kroppen vår = our body (object)
klar = ready (adjective describing the object)

So gjør kroppen vår klar = makes our body ready.

The adjective goes after the object it describes, just like in English: make the body ready.

Does klar change form to agree with kroppen? What are the forms of klar?

Yes, adjectives in Norwegian usually agree with the noun’s gender and number.

Basic forms of klar (ready / clear):

Masculine/feminine singular: klar
- en klar plan (a clear plan)
- kroppen er klar (the body is ready)
Neuter singular: klart
- et klart valg (a clear choice)
- huset er klart (the house is ready)
Plural (all genders): klare
- klare mål (clear goals)
- vi er klare (we are ready)

Here, kroppen is masculine singular, so the adjective is klar:

kroppen vår [er/blir/gjøres] klar

With a neuter noun, it would change:

huset vårt blir klart – our house becomes ready

Could we say Oppvarmingen før treningsøkten gjør oss klare instead? What is the difference?

Yes, that is also correct, but the focus shifts slightly.

… gjør kroppen vår klar.
Focus on the body as an object that is being prepared (more physical, anatomical focus).
… gjør oss klare.
Focus on us as people being ready (could be physically and/or mentally).

Both can work in a training context:

gjør kroppen vår klar – emphasizes muscles, joints, circulation, etc.
gjør oss klare – emphasizes that we (the people) are in a state of readiness.

Why is the verb in present tense gjør, not some future form?

Norwegian often uses the simple present to express:

General truths / facts
Habits and routines

So:

Oppvarmingen før treningsøkten gjør kroppen vår klar.
= As a rule, the warm‑up before a session makes our body ready.

If you wanted to talk about a specific future event, you could add a future marker:

Oppvarmingen før treningsøkten skal gjøre kroppen vår klar.
(The warm‑up before the training session is supposed to make our body ready.)

But in general statements, simple present gjør is the natural choice.

Why is Oppvarmingen capitalized? Are nouns capitalized in Norwegian like in German?

No. Norwegian does not capitalize all nouns like German.

In this sentence, Oppvarmingen is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence. If it appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would be:

oppvarmingen før treningsøkten …

Ordinary common nouns (like oppvarming, kropp, trening) are written with a lowercase initial letter.

How do you pronounce the difficult vowels in treningsøkten and kroppen vår?

Approximate pronunciation (standard Eastern Norwegian):

oppvarmingen: [OPP-vahr-ming-en]
- o as in British not
- ar a bit like are
- stress on the first syllable: OPP‑var‑ming‑en
treningsøkten: [TRAY-ning-søkk-ten] (very rough English approximation)
- tre ≈ tray but shorter
- ø is between English e in her and u in burn (but with rounded lips)
- stress on TRE: TRE-nings-økt-en
kroppen vår: [KROP-pen vor]
- o like off
- å in vår is like aw in law
- stress on KROP and vår

The two key special vowels:

ø – rounded version of English e in her
å – like aw in law or o in more (depending on accent)

Can I make the sentence more general, like “Warm‑up before training makes the body ready”?

Yes. A more general version would drop some definiteness and the possessive:

Oppvarming før trening gjør kroppen klar.

This shifts the meaning from a specific warm‑up and a specific training session to:

oppvarming – warm‑up in general
trening – training in general
kroppen – the body (as a general concept)

Another very natural general sentence:

Oppvarming før trening gjør kroppen klar for belastning.
(Warm‑up before training makes the body ready for strain/load.)