Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Tilliten mellom foreldrene og læreren gjør dagen på skolen bedre. - The trust between the parents and the teacher makes the day at school better.

In this sentence, Tilliten is definite because we’re talking about a specific, known kind of trust: the trust that exists between these parents and this teacher.

Using the indefinite form:

Tillit mellom foreldrene og læreren gjør dagen på skolen bedre.

is grammatically possible, but it sounds more vague, like “Trust between the parents and the teacher (in general) makes the day better.” The definite Tilliten sounds more natural when we mean the particular trust in this relationship.

Why is it mellom and not something like blant in mellom foreldrene og læreren?

Both mellom and blant can translate as between/among, but they’re used a bit differently:

mellom = between (typically between two parties, or clearly defined sides)
blant = among (within a group, usually more than two)

Here we have a relationship between two clearly defined sides:

side A: foreldrene (the parents)
side B: læreren (the teacher)

So mellom foreldrene og læreren is the natural choice.

blant would be used more for something like:

Det er god kommunikasjon blant foreldrene.
“There is good communication among the parents.”

Why are foreldrene and læreren in the definite form? Could I say foreldre og lærer instead?

foreldre = parents (indefinite plural)
foreldrene = the parents (definite plural: the parents)
lærer = (a) teacher (indefinite singular)
læreren = the teacher (definite singular: the teacher)

In this sentence, we’re talking about specific people:

the parents of a particular child or class
the specific teacher of that child or class

So foreldrene og læreren = the parents and the teacher is the natural choice.

If you say:

Tillit mellom foreldre og lærer gjør dagen på skolen bedre.

it becomes a more general statement: “Trust between parents and a teacher makes the day at school better (in general).” That’s not wrong, but it sounds less concrete and more like a generic principle.

How does the word order work in Tilliten mellom foreldrene og læreren gjør dagen på skolen bedre? Can I move things around?

Norwegian main clauses usually follow S–V–O (Subject–Verb–Object) order, with the verb in second position:

Subject: Tilliten mellom foreldrene og læreren
Verb: gjør
Object/Rest: dagen på skolen bedre

So the structure is:

Tilliten mellom foreldrene og læreren (S) gjør (V) dagen på skolen bedre (O/other).

You can move some parts for emphasis, but the finite verb must stay in second position. For example:

Dagen på skolen blir bedre på grunn av tilliten mellom foreldrene og læreren.

Here we’ve fronted Dagen på skolen, so the verb blir is now second.

Something like:

Mellom foreldrene og læreren gjør tilliten dagen på skolen bedre.

is technically possible but sounds awkward and very marked. The original sentence has the most natural word order.

Why is it gjør dagen ... bedre and not just er dagen ... bedre?

The verb gjøre means to do/make, and in this structure it’s causative:

gjøre noe bedre = to make something better

So:

Tilliten ... gjør dagen ... bedre
= The trust makes the day better (the trust is the cause).

If you use er:

Tilliten mellom foreldrene og læreren er dagen på skolen bedre. ❌ (ungrammatical)

You’d need a different structure, for example:

Når det er tillit mellom foreldrene og læreren, er dagen på skolen bedre.
“When there is trust between the parents and the teacher, the day at school is better.”

Another common alternative is blir (becomes):

Tilliten mellom foreldrene og læreren gjør at dagen på skolen blir bedre.
“The trust between the parents and the teacher makes the day at school become better.”

What’s the difference between dagen på skolen and skoledagen? Could I say gjør skoledagen bedre?

Yes, you can say:

Tilliten mellom foreldrene og læreren gjør skoledagen bedre.

Both are correct:

dagen på skolen = the day at school (a full phrase)
skoledagen = the school day (a compound noun)

Nuance:

dagen på skolen slightly emphasizes the day spent at school.
skoledagen is a more compact, almost fixed phrase, like English “the school day.”

In many contexts they’re interchangeable, and both versions sound natural here.

Why is it på skolen and not i skolen?

In Norwegian, the preposition på is often used with institutions:

på skolen = at school
på jobben = at work
på universitetet = at the university
på sykehuset = at the hospital

So på skolen is the standard way to say at school.

i skolen is possible but has a more abstract meaning, like in the school system / in schooling:

Vi må snakke mer om psykisk helse i skolen.
“We need to talk more about mental health in school (in the school system).”

In this sentence we’re talking about the actual day spent at the physical place, so på skolen is the right choice.

What exactly is bedre grammatically? Does it change form to agree with dagen?

Bedre is the comparative form of the adjective god (good):

god = good
bedre = better
best = best

In Norwegian, comparative adjectives do not change for gender, number, or definiteness. So you always use bedre:

en dag → en bedre dag
ei uke → ei bedre uke
et år → et bedre år
dagene → bedre dager

So in gjør dagen på skolen bedre, bedre doesn’t change to match dagen; it stays bedre in all cases.

How do you pronounce the tricky words in this sentence, like tilliten, læreren, and bedre?

Approximate pronunciation (in a standard eastern Norwegian accent):

Tilliten ≈ TILL-ih-ten
- ti like in English till
- final -en like a weak -en
foreldrene ≈ fo-RELL-dre-ne
- fo like fo in for (short)
- dre is a weak dre sound; ld often blends
læreren ≈ LAIR-eh-ren
- æ like a in English cat, but longer
- r is tapped or rolled
skolen ≈ SKOO-len
- sko like skoo
- final -en weak
bedre ≈ BEH-dre or BEH-dreuh
- first e like in English bed but often a bit longer
- d is soft; in some dialects it’s barely pronounced

These are approximations; actual sound and rhythm will vary by dialect, but this gives you a workable target.

Could I express the same idea by talking about parents and teacher trusting each other, for example with stole på?

Yes. A very natural alternative that keeps the same meaning is:

Når foreldrene og læreren stoler på hverandre, blir dagen på skolen bedre.
“When the parents and the teacher trust each other, the day at school gets better.”

Differences:

Original: focuses on the noun Tilliten (the trust) as something that makes the day better.
Alternative: focuses on the action stoler på hverandre (trust each other), and uses blir (becomes/gets) instead of gjør.

Both are idiomatic; the choice is mostly a matter of style and what you want to emphasize (the relationship/quality vs. the action).