Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Jeg prøver å bruke sosiale medier med hensikt, fremfor å skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden. - I try to use social media with intention, rather than scrolling randomly all evening.

When you have a verb like prøve, begynne, like, ville, etc. followed by another verb in the infinitive, you almost always need å before that second verb:

Jeg prøver å lære norsk. – I’m trying to learn Norwegian.
Hun liker å lese. – She likes to read.

Writing ✗ Jeg prøver bruke sosiale medier is normally incorrect in standard written Norwegian, even though some dialects may drop å in speech.

What is the difference between å and og, and how are they pronounced?

These two are very easy to mix up in writing, but they are completely different words:

å
- Function: infinitive marker (like “to” in to use, to read).
- Example: å bruke, å skrolle.
- Pronunciation: usually like a long [oː] (similar to the o in British “law”).
og
- Function: conjunction meaning “and”.
- Example: sosiale medier og TV – social media and TV.
- Pronunciation: often like a short [o] or [ɔ]; the g is usually silent in normal speech.

So:

Jeg prøver å bruke sosiale medier. – correct (å = to).
Jeg prøver og bruke sosiale medier. – incorrect in writing.

Why is it sosiale medier and not something like sosiale medium or singular medium?

Medier is the common plural form of medium (originally from Latin) in Norwegian. In everyday Norwegian, “media” is almost always talked about in the plural:

et medium – a medium (rare in casual speech)
medier – media (plural; this is what people usually say)

Sosiale medier has become a set phrase, just like English “social media”, which also looks plural even when we treat it as a kind of mass noun.

No article is used here because we’re talking about social media in general:

Jeg bruker sosiale medier. – I use social media (in general).
Jeg bruker de sosiale mediene. – I use the social media platforms (more specific, less common).

What does “med hensikt” literally mean, and how is it different from other options like “med vilje” or “bevisst”?

Literally:

med = with
hensikt = intention / purpose

So med hensikt = “with intention” / “purposefully”.

Nuances:

med hensikt – with a clear goal or purpose, often a bit formal or reflective.
med vilje – on purpose, often in contrast to by accident (ved et uhell).
- Han gjorde det med vilje. – He did it on purpose.
bevisst – consciously, mindfully.
- Jeg prøver å være bevisst på hvordan jeg bruker sosiale medier.

In this sentence, med hensikt fits well because the speaker is talking about using social media in a goal‑oriented, deliberate way, not just as a mindless habit.

Why is there a comma before fremfor in “…med hensikt, fremfor å skrolle…”? Is it necessary?

The comma here is stylistic, not strictly required.

Without comma:
- Jeg prøver å bruke sosiale medier med hensikt fremfor å skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden.
With comma:
- Jeg prøver å bruke sosiale medier med hensikt, fremfor å skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden.

The comma creates a clear pause and emphasizes the contrast:

I try to use social media with intention, rather than scrolling randomly all evening.

Both versions are acceptable in modern Bokmål. Many native speakers would not write the comma here, but using it for emphasis on the contrast is not wrong.

What exactly does fremfor mean, and how does it differ from i stedet for or enn?

fremfor roughly means “rather than / instead of / as opposed to” in a preferential sense.

In this sentence:

fremfor å skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden
≈ i stedet for å skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden
≈ heller enn å skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden

Comparisons and nuances:

fremfor – often used when you prefer one option over another.
- Jeg velger kvalitet fremfor kvantitet. – I choose quality over quantity.
i stedet for (å) – neutral instead of.
- Jeg drikker te i stedet for kaffe. – I drink tea instead of coffee.
enn – used after comparatives (større enn, heller enn)
- Jeg vil heller lese enn å skrolle. – I’d rather read than scroll.

In many contexts, you could replace fremfor with i stedet for å and keep almost the same meaning.

Is “å skrolle” a real Norwegian verb, or just English “to scroll” thrown into Norwegian?

Å skrolle is a perfectly normal, widely used loan verb in modern Norwegian, adapted from English “to scroll”.

Infinitive: å skrolle
Present: jeg skroller
Past: jeg skrollet (or scrolla in colloquial spelling)
Past participle: har skrollet

It’s common in everyday speech and writing about phones and social media:

Jeg skrollet gjennom Instagram. – I scrolled through Instagram.

There is also the spelling scrolle, but skrolle is more “Norwegian-ized” and common in Bokmål.

What does tilfeldig mean here, and could it also mean “by accident”?

In this sentence, tilfeldig means “randomly / aimlessly / without a plan”:

å skrolle tilfeldig – to scroll randomly, just letting the feed decide.

tilfeldig can mean:

random (in a non‑planned, arbitrary sense)
accidental (in some contexts)

But when you specifically mean “by accident”, it’s more natural to say:

ved et uhell – by accident
utilsiktet – unintended

So:

Han valgte et tilfeldig bilde. – He chose a random picture.
Han gjorde det ved et uhell. – He did it by accident.

Here, tilfeldig clearly describes how you scroll – without intention or purpose.

Why is tilfeldig placed after skrolle in “å skrolle tilfeldig”? Could you say “tilfeldig skrolle”?

The usual and most natural word order is:

å skrolle tilfeldig – literally to scroll randomly.

In Norwegian, adverbs like tilfeldig often come after the verb they describe, especially in an infinitive phrase:

å lese nøye – to read carefully
å jobbe hardt – to work hard

You could technically say å tilfeldig skrolle, but it sounds unusual and stylistically marked. In everyday speech and writing, å skrolle tilfeldig is the natural choice.

What does hele kvelden mean exactly, and why is it without a preposition?

Hele kvelden literally means “the whole evening” or “all evening”.

hele = whole / entire
kvelden = the evening (definite form of en kveld)

In Norwegian, time expressions like this often appear without a preposition:

hele dagen – all day
hele natten – all night
hele uken – all week

They function as adverbial time phrases. So:

Jeg jobbet hele dagen. – I worked all day.
Jeg skrollet tilfeldig hele kvelden. – I scrolled randomly the whole evening.

You don’t need i or om here; hele + definite time word is enough.

Why is the verb prøver in second position in “Jeg prøver å bruke…”?

Norwegian follows the V2 (verb‑second) rule in main clauses:
The finite verb (here: prøver) must be in second position in the sentence.

Jeg (subject – 1st position)
prøver (finite verb – 2nd position)
å bruke sosiale medier med hensikt… (rest of the sentence)

Other examples:

Han leser boka. – He reads the book.
I kveld ser jeg en film. – Tonight (1), see (2), I (3) a movie.

Even if you move something to the front, the verb stays in position 2:

I dag prøver jeg å bruke sosiale medier med hensikt.
- I dag (1), prøver (2), jeg (3)…

Can you drop the subject jeg like in some other languages, or must it be there?

In Norwegian, you cannot normally drop the subject pronoun in sentences like this. You must say:

Jeg prøver å bruke sosiale medier…

Writing ✗ Prøver å bruke sosiale medier med hensikt (without jeg) is usually only acceptable:

in notes/bullet points, headlines, or informal messages where people omit subjects for brevity, or
if the subject is obvious from context and you’re writing like a telegraph style.

In normal full sentences, always include the subject pronoun (jeg, du, han, hun, vi, dere, de).

Why is it med hensikt and not med en hensikt?

With abstract nouns like hensikt, tålmodighet, erfaring, etc., Norwegian often omits the article when speaking in a general sense.

med hensikt – with intention (in general)
med en hensikt – with a (specific) purpose

You would use med en hensikt when you have a clearly identifiable, specific goal:

Han kom hit med en hensikt: å snakke med deg.
– He came here with one specific purpose: to talk to you.

In the original sentence, the idea is general: using social media intentionally, not accidentally or aimlessly, so med hensikt is natural.

Could you say this sentence in another natural way in Norwegian, and if so, what changes and what stays the same?

Yes, here are a few natural paraphrases:

Jeg prøver å bruke sosiale medier mer bevisst, i stedet for å skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden.
- med hensikt → mer bevisst (more consciously)
- fremfor → i stedet for
Jeg prøver å være mer målrettet når jeg bruker sosiale medier, heller enn å skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden.
- Adds være mer målrettet (be more goal‑oriented)
- fremfor → heller enn
Jeg vil bruke sosiale medier mer med vilje, ikke bare skrolle tilfeldig hele kvelden.
- prøver å → vil (want to)
- fremfor → ikke bare

What stays the same conceptually:

bruke sosiale medier – use social media
contrast between intentional use and aimless scrolling all evening
adverbial phrase hele kvelden indicating duration.