Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Han vil redusere overtid for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid. - He wants to reduce overtime in order to get more predictable working hours.

In Norwegian, modal verbs like vil, skal, kan, må, bør are followed by the bare infinitive of the main verb, without å and without any ending.

vil redusere = wants to reduce / will reduce
redusere is the infinitive (dictionary form).
reduserer is the present tense form (reduces / is reducing).

So you say:

Han vil redusere overtid. – He wants to reduce overtime.
but
Han reduserer overtid. – He is reducing overtime / He reduces overtime.

Does vil here mean will (future) or want to?

In this sentence, vil means wants to, not a neutral future:

Han vil redusere overtid ≈ He wants to reduce overtime.

Norwegian rarely uses vil as a pure future marker like English will. To talk about the future you usually use:

plain present: I morgen jobber han mindre. – Tomorrow he works less.
or skal: Han skal jobbe mindre i framtiden. – He is going to work less in the future.

vil + infinitive normally expresses desire, willingness, or intention rather than just future time.

Why is there no å after vil? I thought infinitives take å.

You are right that infinitives usually take å:

å redusere, å spise, å sove

But after modal verbs you drop å:

vil redusere (not vil å redusere)
kan spise (not kan å spise)
må jobbe (not må å jobbe)

So the pattern is:

[modal verb] + [bare infinitive]

That’s why the sentence has vil redusere, not vil å redusere.

What exactly does overtid mean, and why is there no article?

Overtid literally means overtime (work) – extra hours beyond normal working hours.

There is no article because overtid here is used like an uncountable/mass noun, talking about overtime in general:

Han vil redusere overtid.
→ He wants to reduce (the amount of) overtime.

It’s similar to English where you normally say:

He wants to reduce overtime. (not the overtime in a general statement)

Could you say overtiden instead of overtid? What would change?

Yes, you can say overtiden, but the meaning becomes more specific:

Han vil redusere overtid.
→ general: reduce overtime as a general thing.
Han vil redusere overtiden.
→ specific: reduce the overtime (that exists in his job / that they now have).

Using the definite form overtiden suggests that both speaker and listener already know which particular overtime is being referred to.

What does for å mean, and why is it used here?

for å means in order to and introduces a purpose:

for å + infinitive

In the sentence:

for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid
→ in order to get more predictable working hours

So the structure is:

Han vil redusere overtid – main action
for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid – purpose of that action

Could you just say å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid without for?

Not in standard written Norwegian when you want to express purpose.

for å få … = in order to get … (clear purpose)
bare å få … after a full clause is not normally used to mean in order to.

If you drop for, you would usually have to change the structure, for example:

Han vil redusere overtid og få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid.
→ He wants to reduce overtime and get more predictable working hours.
(Two coordinate actions, not clearly purpose.)

So in a purpose clause after a full sentence, you normally need for å.

What does få mean in for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid?

Here, få means to get / to obtain / to achieve:

å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid
→ to get more predictable working hours

Some common uses of få:

få en jobb – get a job
få bedre lønn – get better pay
få mer fritid – get more free time

In this sentence, reducing overtime is the means to get more predictable working hours.

What does arbeidstid mean, and why is it singular with en?

arbeidstid literally means work time, and in normal usage it corresponds to English working hours / work schedule.

It is grammatically a common gender noun (masculine/feminine), so its indefinite singular is:

en arbeidstid

Norwegian often uses a singular abstract noun where English uses a plural:

arbeidstid → working hours
utdanning → education/studies
transport → transportation / commute

So en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid is best translated as more predictable working hours or a more predictable work schedule, even though it’s singular in Norwegian.

Why is it forutsigbar and not forutsigbart or forutsigbare?

Adjectives in Norwegian agree with the noun in gender, number, and definiteness.

Base forms for forutsigbar (predictable):

common gender, singular, indefinite: forutsigbar
neuter, singular, indefinite: forutsigbart
plural (any gender), indefinite: forutsigbare
definite (any gender/number): forutsigbare
- den / det / de or with a definite noun

Here we have:

en arbeidstid → common gender, singular, indefinite
so the adjective must be the base form: forutsigbar

Hence: en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid.

What is the role of mer in en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid?

mer here is the comparative more, modifying the adjective forutsigbar:

forutsigbar – predictable
mer forutsigbar – more predictable

So the phrase breaks down as:

en – an
mer – more
forutsigbar – predictable
arbeidstid – work time / working hours

Literally: an more predictable work-time → more predictable working hours.

Could the word order be Han vil for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid redusere overtid?

That word order is technically possible but sounds unnatural and heavy in everyday Norwegian.

The usual and most natural order is:

Han vil [redusere overtid] [for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid].

The for å-phrase normally comes after the main verb phrase it explains, not inserted in the middle of it. So the original sentence is the idiomatic version.

Why is there no possessive like hans or sin with arbeidstid?

In English you might say his working hours. In Norwegian, you often omit possessive pronouns when the owner is obvious from context:

Han vil redusere overtid for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid.
→ It’s clearly his working hours.

You could say:

…for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid for seg selv.
…for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid for ham.

or, more marked:

…for å få en mer forutsigbar arbeidstid selv.

But adding hans or sin directly (arbeidstiden hans / arbeidstiden sin) would sound more specific and heavier, and is not necessary here. The neutral, natural choice is to omit the possessive.