Når han mister familietid, merker han at livskvaliteten blir dårligere.

When he loses family time, he notices that the quality of life becomes worse.

Breakdown of Når han mister familietid, merker han at livskvaliteten blir dårligere.

• han: he
• at: that
• når: when
• bli: to become

Questions & Answers about Når han mister familietid, merker han at livskvaliteten blir dårligere.

Why is når used here and not da?

In Norwegian, both når and da can translate to when, but they are not interchangeable.

• når is used for:
  • Repeated / habitual actions
    
    • Når han mister familietid, ... = Whenever he loses family time, ...
  • General truths or future time
• da is used for:
  • One specific event in the past
    
    • Da han mistet familietid i fjor, merket han ... = When he lost family time last year, he noticed ...

Here the sentence describes a general, repeated pattern in his life, so når is correct and da would be wrong.

Why is the word order "Når han mister familietid, merker han ..." and not "... han merker"?