Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Etter at eksamen er over, kan vi endelig puste lettet ut. - After the exam is over, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Use etter by itself before a noun:
- Etter eksamen kan vi puste lettet ut.
  After the exam we can breathe a sigh of relief.
Use etter at before a full clause (with a subject and a verb):
- Etter at eksamen er over, kan vi puste lettet ut.
  After the exam is over, we can breathe a sigh of relief.

Here, eksamen er over is a clause (subject eksamen, verb er), so you need etter at, not just etter.

Why does the Norwegian sentence use the present tense er over even though it refers to the future?

In time clauses introduced by words like når, før, etter at, mens, Norwegian often uses the present tense even for future situations.

So:

Etter at eksamen er over, kan vi endelig puste lettet ut.
literally: After the exam is over, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

In English we also often use present tense in these clauses:
After the exam is over, we can finally relax.

You could express future in other ways, but present tense for future time in a time clause is the normal pattern here.

Why is the word order eksamen er over and not something like eksamen over er?

Norwegian subordinate clauses (introduced by etter at, fordi, som, etc.) normally keep subject–verb order:

Etter at eksamen er over …
subject = eksamen, verb = er, complement = over

Learners sometimes copy German-like patterns and think the verb should go at the end, but in standard Norwegian the finite verb does not move to the very end in such clauses. You say:

Etter at eksamen er over ✅
not Etter at eksamen over er ❌

Why does the main clause start with kan vi and not vi kan?

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position.

The opening Etter at eksamen er over is one unit (a whole clause) in the first position. After that, the verb must come next:

First position: Etter at eksamen er over
Second position (finite verb): kan
Then subject: vi

So:

Etter at eksamen er over, kan vi endelig puste lettet ut. ✅
Etter at eksamen er over, vi kan endelig puste lettet ut. ❌ (verb is not in second position)

Why is there a comma after over?

Norwegian grammar requires a comma between:

a subordinate clause
(Etter at eksamen er over)
and the main clause
(kan vi endelig puste lettet ut)

when the subordinate clause comes first.

So you write:

Etter at eksamen er over, kan vi …

If the order is reversed, you normally skip the comma:

Vi kan endelig puste lettet ut etter at eksamen er over. (no comma)

Why is there no article before eksamen? Why not etter at eksamenen er over?

Eksamen is a noun that can appear:

without an article: eksamen
with a definite ending: eksamenen (the exam)

In this sentence, eksamen is used in a more general or institutional sense, like the exam session / exam period we all know about. Norwegian often drops the article in such institutional, routine, or abstract contexts.

Both are possible, with a nuance:

Etter at eksamen er over …
more like after exam time / exam period is over
Etter at eksamenen er over …
more clearly after that particular exam is over

In many contexts they will be understood the same, but eksamen without article is very common in student talk: ha eksamen, lese til eksamen, gå opp til eksamen, etc.

What exactly does puste lettet ut mean?

Literally:

puste = to breathe
ut = out
lettet = relieved

So puste lettet ut is literally to breathe out relieved, and idiomatically it means to breathe a sigh of relief.

You can see it as:

puste ut = exhale
modified by lettet (in a relieved way)

It describes that physical feeling of exhaling when tension disappears after stress (like finishing an exam).

Why do we need both puste and ut? Could we just say puste lettet?

Puste ut is a phrasal verb meaning to exhale / to breathe out.

puste alone = to breathe (in general)
puste ut = to breathe out / exhale (one breath, outwards)

In this expression, the idea is specifically that you let out the breath:

puste lettet ut = let out a relieved breath
≈ breathe a sigh of relief

Puste lettet without ut would sound incomplete or odd in this meaning.

What is lettet grammatically? It looks like a past participle – why is it used here?

Yes, lettet is the past participle of the verb lette (to lighten, to relieve).

Past participles in Norwegian are often used as adjectives or adverb-like modifiers:

Jeg er lettet. = I am relieved. (adjective)
Hun sukket tungt. = She sighed heavily. (tungt = adverb from tung)

In puste lettet ut, lettet describes how we breathe out: in a relieved way. So it functions adverbially, similar to relievedly, although in English we normally paraphrase with with relief or a sigh of relief:

puste lettet ut ≈ breathe out with relief / breathe a sigh of relief

Can endelig be placed somewhere else, like kan vi puste endelig lettet ut?

The most natural positions for endelig here are:

Etter at eksamen er over, kan vi endelig puste lettet ut. ✅
Etter at eksamen er over, kan vi puste lettet ut endelig. (possible, but less common; sounds a bit marked)

Putting endelig between puste and lettet ut is unusual:

kan vi puste endelig lettet ut ❌ (sounds wrong)

General guideline: place endelig close to the verb phrase it semantically modifies, but not splitting fixed combinations like puste ut or puste lettet ut. The original sentence is the most idiomatic.

Could we say etter at eksamen er ferdig or etter at eksamen er slutt instead of er over? Are there differences?

Yes, you could say:

Etter at eksamen er ferdig …
Etter at eksamen er slutt …

They are all understandable, but with small nuances:

er over – neutral, the exam period has passed / is behind us.
er ferdig – emphasizes completion of a task or activity.
er slutt – emphasizes ending / termination, sometimes with a slightly stronger tone of finality.

In this context, all three work, and er over or er ferdig are probably the two most natural choices.

What is the difference between eksamen and prøve?

Both mean some kind of test, but typically:

eksamen
A formal exam, often at the end of a course, term, or degree. More official and higher-stakes.
prøve
A test or quiz, which can be smaller, more informal, or more frequent (like a classroom test).

So Etter at eksamen er over suggests a big, important exam period is ending, not just a small in-class quiz.