Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver jeg å finne hovedpoenget allerede i innledningen.

When I read an article, I try to find the main point already in the introduction.

Breakdown of Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver jeg å finne hovedpoenget allerede i innledningen.

• jeg: I
• en: a
• å: to
• i: in
• lese: to read
• når: when
• finne: to find
• prøve: to try
• allerede: already
• artikkelen: the article
• innledningen: the introduction
• hovedpoenget: the main point

Questions & Answers about Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver jeg å finne hovedpoenget allerede i innledningen.

Why is it Når jeg leser and not Da jeg leser?

Norwegian distinguishes clearly between når and da:

• når is used for:

  • repeated / habitual actions (like here)
  • general truths
  • future time

• da is used for:

  • one specific event in the past

In this sentence, we’re talking about what you usually do whenever you read an article (a habit), so Når jeg leser en artikkel is correct.

If it were one specific past situation, you would say:

• Da jeg leste en artikkel, prøvde jeg å finne hovedpoenget allerede i innledningen.
  (When I read an article [on that particular occasion], I tried to find the main point already in the introduction.)

Why is the tense present (leser, prøver) when the English translation often uses “when I read, I try …” as a general statement?

Norwegian present tense is used both for:

• actions happening right now
• habits and general truths

So:

• Jeg leser en artikkel. = I am reading an article (right now).
• Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver jeg å finne … = When(ever) I read an article, I try to find …

English can use simple present for habits, but also sometimes uses “whenever I read …” to make the habitual meaning clearer. In Norwegian, når + present tense already clearly gives that habitual or general meaning.

Why is the word order Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver jeg å finne … and not … jeg prøver å finne …?

Norwegian has the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb (here: prøver) must come in second position.

When a sentence starts with something other than the subject (like a time clause), that first element still counts as position 1, so the verb is placed immediately after it, and the subject comes after the verb.

• Neutral order: Jeg prøver å finne hovedpoenget.
  (Subject first, verb second.)

• With a fronted element:
  Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver jeg å finne hovedpoenget.

  • 1: the entire clause Når jeg leser en artikkel
  • 2: prøver (verb)
  • 3: jeg (subject)

So prøver jeg is required by the V2 word order rule.

Why is there a comma after Når jeg leser en artikkel?

Because Når jeg leser en artikkel is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause) that comes before the main clause.

In Norwegian:

• You must put a comma between:
  • a subordinate clause and
  • the main clause when the subordinate clause comes first.

So:

• Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver jeg å finne … ✅

If the main clause came first, the comma is often not written:

• Jeg prøver å finne hovedpoenget allerede i innledningen når jeg leser en artikkel.

Why is it en artikkel and not artikler or artikkelen?

artikkel is a masculine noun:

• indefinite singular: en artikkel (an article)
• definite singular: artikkelen (the article)
• indefinite plural: artikler (articles)
• definite plural: artiklene (the articles)

Here, en artikkel is used in a generic, non-specific sense: when I read an article (any article).
Using artikkelen would refer to one specific article that both speaker and listener know about, which is not the case here.

You could say Når jeg leser artikler … but that would slightly shift the focus to the fact that you read multiple articles in general, not the process for each individual article.

Why is it prøver jeg å finne and not prøver jeg finne (without å)?

In Norwegian, most verbs in the infinitive require å in front:

• å finne = to find
• å lese = to read
• å prøve = to try

You drop å only after certain modal verbs like:

• kan (can)
• vil (will/want to)
• skal (shall/going to)
• må (must)
• bør (should)

Examples:

• Jeg vil finne hovedpoenget. (no å)
• Jeg prøver å finne hovedpoenget. (å needed)

Since prøve is not a modal verb, you must say prøver å finne, not prøver finne.

Could you also say for å finne hovedpoenget instead of å finne hovedpoenget? What’s the difference?

Yes, both are grammatical, but there is a nuance:

• prøver å finne hovedpoenget
  = try to find the main point (neutral, just describing the action)

• prøver for å finne hovedpoenget
  would emphasize more explicitly that the purpose of trying (or what you are doing) is in order to find the main point.

In this exact sentence, for is not needed, and prøver å finne hovedpoenget is the natural, standard phrasing.
If you use for å, you’re making the purpose relationship extra clear, similar to English “in order to”.

What does allerede mean, and why is it placed before i innledningen?

allerede means already.

Word order:

• Adverbs like allerede usually come before a prepositional phrase when they modify the whole action:
  • å finne hovedpoenget allerede i innledningen
    = to find the main point already in the introduction (and not later)

If you moved allerede elsewhere, you would get unnatural or confusing Norwegian. The phrase allerede i innledningen is a fixed-like chunk that sounds natural together.

Why is the preposition i used in i innledningen, and not på?

In Norwegian, i (in) is used with many parts of a text:

• i innledningen = in the introduction
• i avsnittet = in the paragraph
• i teksten = in the text
• i konklusjonen = in the conclusion

på is used in some other fixed combinations (like på forsiden – on the front page), but with innledning in this sense, i is the natural preposition.

So:

• allerede i innledningen = already in the introduction.

Why is it hovedpoenget with -et, and not just hovedpoeng?

hovedpoeng is a neuter noun:

• indefinite singular: et hovedpoeng (a main point)
• definite singular: hovedpoenget (the main point)
• indefinite plural: hovedpoeng (main points – same form as singular)
• definite plural: hovedpoengene (the main points)

In the sentence, you are talking about the main point of the article (there is usually one main point), so the definite singular is used:

• hovedpoenget = the main point (of that article)

If you said finne hovedpoeng, it would either sound like a plural (find main points) or an incomplete phrase.

Why is it innledningen with -en? Is innledning masculine or feminine?

In Bokmål, innledning is usually treated as a common gender noun (often written as en innledning in dictionaries):

• indefinite singular: en innledning (an introduction)
• definite singular: innledningen (the introduction)
• indefinite plural: innledninger
• definite plural: innledningene

So i innledningen means in the introduction (of the article).
The -en ending here is just the regular definite singular ending for common-gender nouns.

Could you say introduksjonen instead of innledningen? Is there a difference?

Yes, you could say:

• … å finne hovedpoenget allerede i introduksjonen.

Both innledning and introduksjon can mean introduction, but:

• innledning is very common in the context of texts, articles, essays.
• introduksjon can be slightly more general (introduction to a topic, a person, a field, etc.), though it’s also used about texts.

In this specific sentence about reading an article, innledningen sounds a bit more natural and textbook-like, but introduksjonen would still be understood and acceptable.

Could you leave out the second jeg and say Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver å finne hovedpoenget …?

No. In Norwegian, you cannot normally drop the subject jeg in the second clause.

Each finite verb in a main clause normally needs its own explicit subject:

• Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver jeg å finne hovedpoenget … ✅
• Når jeg leser en artikkel, prøver å finne hovedpoenget … ❌ (ungrammatical)

Norwegian is not a “pro-drop” language like Spanish or Italian; you generally must state the subject each time.