Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Forhandlingen om tariffavtalen er viktig for alle ansatte. - The negotiation about the collective agreement is important for all employees.

The base form is forhandling = negotiation (an act or process of negotiating).
forhandling is an en-word (common gender): en forhandling.
To make it definite singular, you add -en:
- en forhandling → forhandlingen = the negotiation.

So Forhandlingen om tariffavtalen = The negotiation about the collective agreement.

Why is it Forhandlingen (singular) and not Forhandlingene (plural, “negotiations”)?

Norwegian can use either singular or plural here, depending on what you want to say:

Forhandlingen om tariffavtalen
– Focuses on the negotiation as one overall process.
Forhandlingene om tariffavtalen
– Emphasises several rounds/meetings of negotiation.

In many real-life contexts, people do actually say forhandlingene because negotiations usually happen over multiple meetings. But using singular forhandlingen is also natural if you’re talking about the negotiation as one event or process.

So the sentence is grammatically correct as it stands; changing to plural would slightly change the nuance, not the basic meaning.

What does om mean in forhandlingen om tariffavtalen, and why is that preposition used?

In this context, om means “about / over / concerning”.

forhandling om noe = negotiation about something
- forhandling om lønn = negotiation about wages
- forhandling om en avtale = negotiation about an agreement

You can think of it like English “negotiation over” or “negotiation about”.
Other prepositions (like av) would be wrong here; forhandling om X is the standard pattern.

What is tariffavtalen made of, and what does it mean more literally?

Tariffavtalen is a compound word:

tariff – in this context: a wage/working-conditions framework, used in labour law
avtale – agreement, contract
avtalen – the agreement (definite singular: en avtale → avtalen)
Together: tariffavtale = collective agreement (between employer and employees/unions)
tariffavtalen = the collective agreement

So tariffavtalen literally is the tariff-agreement, but in practice it’s the legal/contractual collective bargaining agreement.

Why is tariffavtalen in the definite form (“the collective agreement”)? Could it be indefinite?

It’s definite because the sentence is talking about a specific, known agreement:

tariffavtale = a collective agreement (in general)
tariffavtalen = the (particular) collective agreement

In real usage, people usually know which agreement they mean (for example, this year’s agreement between a certain union and employer), so the definite form sounds natural.

You could say:

Forhandlinger om en tariffavtale er viktige …
= Negotiations about a collective agreement are important …

But that would sound more general/unspecified. The original sentence clearly refers to the relevant agreement everyone has in mind.

What does ansatte mean here, and what is its base form?

Ansatte here means “employees”.

The base word is the adjective/participle ansatt = employed.
Norwegian often turns adjectives like this into nouns:

en ansatt = an employee
ansatte (plural) = employees

So in the sentence:

alle ansatte = all employees

Ansatte is functioning as a plural noun, not as an adjective in this context.

Can you also say alle de ansatte instead of alle ansatte? What’s the difference?

Yes, both are correct, but there’s a nuance:

alle ansatte
– Often more general: all employees as a group, maybe in a more generic statement.
alle de ansatte
– More specific: all the employees in a particular place/situation that’s already known.

In many contexts, they are almost interchangeable.
In English you’d often translate both as “all the employees”, but Norwegian makes a slight distinction in how definite and specific the group feels.

Why is it viktig for alle ansatte and not something like viktig til alle ansatte?

In Norwegian, after viktig (important), the usual preposition for indicating who something is important to/for is for:

Det er viktig for meg. = It is important to/for me.
Maten er viktig for helsa. = Food is important for your health.
Forhandlingen … er viktig for alle ansatte. = The negotiation is important for all employees.

Using til here would be wrong: viktig til noen is not idiomatic Norwegian.

What is the pattern er viktig for …? Is viktig a verb or an adjective?

Viktig is an adjective meaning “important”.

The structure is:

[subject] + er + [adjective] + for + [person/thing]

In this sentence:

Forhandlingen om tariffavtalen = subject
er = form of the verb å være (to be)
viktig = adjective (important)
for alle ansatte = prepositional phrase, saying for whom it is important

So structurally it’s just like English: “X is important for Y.”

Could the word order be changed, for example to For alle ansatte er forhandlingen om tariffavtalen viktig?

Yes, that sentence is grammatical, but the emphasis changes.

Original:

Forhandlingen om tariffavtalen er viktig for alle ansatte.
– Neutral, subject-first statement.

Alternative:

For alle ansatte er forhandlingen om tariffavtalen viktig.
– Puts stronger focus on “for all employees” by moving that phrase to the front.
– Still obeys the Norwegian V2 rule: the verb er is in second position (after for alle ansatte).

Both mean the same thing; the second just highlights the employees’ perspective more.

How is forhandlingen pronounced, and where is the stress?

Approximate pronunciation (Bokmål standard):

forhandlingen: /for-HAND-ling-en/
- Stress on HAND.
- for like for in English “for” but shorter.
- han like English “hun” in “hundred” but with a as in “father”.
- -dling-: the d is normally pronounced here (unlike in some other words).
- Final -en is a short, reduced “uhn” sound.

Since you’re focusing on text, you don’t need exact IPA, but knowing that the main stress is on the second syllable (for-HAND-ling-en) helps with natural pronunciation.

Is tariffavtalen pronounced as one word or two, and does anything change when you join them?

It’s pronounced as one long word:

tariffavtalen: /ta-RIFF-av-ta-len/
- Main stress on RIFF (the first part, tariff).
- The ff stays clearly pronounced.
- No extra vowel between tariff and avtalen; they connect smoothly: tariff-avtalen.

So you don’t pause between tariff and avtalen; it flows together, just like “collectiveagreement” said as one word in English.