Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Noen elever liker anonymitet i diskusjoner, mens andre vil bruke sitt eget navn. - Some students like anonymity in discussions, while others want to use their own name.

noen elever = some students in general, not a specific, known group.
- It’s indefinite: we don’t know which students, we’re just talking about “some students”.
noen av elevene = some of the students from a specific group that has already been mentioned or is known from context.
- It’s definite: we mean “some of the (particular) students”.

In the given sentence, the speaker is making a general statement about students, so noen elever is the natural choice.

Why is there no article in “liker anonymitet”? Why not “liker en anonymitet” or “liker anonymiteten”?

Anonymitet is an abstract, mass-like noun (like freedom, love, honesty). In Norwegian, such nouns are often used without an article when you talk about them in a general sense:

liker anonymitet = like anonymity (in general)
liker frihet = like freedom
tror på kjærlighet = believe in love

You could say anonymiteten (the anonymity), but that would usually refer to a specific anonymity in a specific situation, e.g.:

Elevene liker anonymiteten i dette forumet.
The students like the anonymity in this forum.

Why is it “i diskusjoner” (plural) and not “i diskusjon” or “i diskusjonene”?

Norwegian prefers the indefinite plural to talk about things in general, repeated, or typical situations:

i diskusjoner = in (online) discussions / when they take part in discussions in general

Alternatives:

i diskusjon – not very idiomatic in this meaning; would more likely mean “in a discussion” as a state, and even then i en diskusjon is more natural.
i diskusjonene = in the discussions (specific ones that we already know about).

Since the sentence talks about discussions in general, i diskusjoner is the natural form.

What does “mens” mean here, and is “mens at” ever used?

Here mens means “while/whereas” and introduces a contrast:

Noen elever liker anonymitet …, mens andre vil bruke …
= Some students like anonymity …, whereas others want to use …

So it’s not about time here (“while they are doing X”), but about contrast.

About mens at:

In modern standard Norwegian, you just use mens, without at.
mens at can appear in some dialects or older texts, but you should avoid it in normal Bokmål writing.

Does “vil bruke” here mean “will use” (future) or “want to use”?

In this sentence, vil most naturally means “want to / prefer to”, not a simple future:

andre vil bruke sitt eget navn ≈ others want to use their own name / prefer to use their own name

Norwegian usually does not use vil as a neutral future tense like English “will”. Future is often expressed with:

a time adverb: Jeg reiser i morgen. (I’m travelling tomorrow.)
skal: Jeg skal reise i morgen. (I’m going to travel tomorrow.)
kommer til å: Det kommer til å regne. (It’s going to rain.)

So here vil bruke is about preference or willingness, not just future time.

Could we just say “mens andre bruker sitt eget navn”? What difference does “vil” make?

Yes, “mens andre bruker sitt eget navn” is grammatically fine and means:

…whereas others use their own name. (a description of what they actually do)

Adding vil shifts the focus slightly:

mens andre vil bruke sitt eget navn
= …whereas others want to use / insist on using their own name.

So:

bruker → factual, habitual action.
vil bruke → preference, intention, choice.

Why is it “sitt eget navn” and not “deres eget navn” or “sine egne navn”?

Breakdown:

sitt – reflexive possessive pronoun (neuter singular)
eget – adjective “own”, neuter singular
navn – neuter singular noun “name”

sitt instead of deres:
- sitt refers back to the subject of the same clause (andre).
- It means their own (name), clearly tying it to the subject.
- deres eget navn would also mean their own name, but deres is not reflexive, so it can be ambiguous: it might refer to some other group’s name.
sitt vs sine:
- sitt is used because navn is neuter singular.
- sine would be used with a plural noun:
  - sine egne navn = their own names (several names).

Here each student has one name, so sitt eget navn is the right form:
others want to use their own (individual) name.

How do I know when to use sin, sitt, or sine?

They all mean “(his/her/their) own”, and they:

Refer back to the subject of the same clause (that’s what makes them reflexive).
Agree with the gender and number of the noun they describe, not with the subject.

Quick guide:

Noun type	Example noun	“own” form	Example phrase
Masculine/feminine	en bok	sin	sin bok – their own book
Neuter, singular	et navn	sitt	sitt navn – their own name
Any plural	(bøker)	sine	sine bøker – their own books

In the sentence:

noun = navn (neuter singular) → sitt (eget) navn.

Why is it “eget navn” and not “egen navn”?

The adjective egen (“own”) must agree with the gender and number of the noun:

egen – masculine/feminine singular: egen bil, egen bok
eget – neuter singular: eget hus, eget navn
egne – all plurals: egne bøker, egne hus

Since navn is neuter singular (et navn), the adjective must be eget:

sitt eget navn – their own name

Why is it just “andre” and not “andre elever” in the second part?

Andre here is used as a pronoun meaning “others”:

Noen elever liker anonymitet …, mens andre vil bruke …
= Some students like anonymity …, while others want to use …

The noun elever is understood from the first part and can be left out to avoid repetition. You could say mens andre elever vil bruke sitt eget navn, but in context it’s natural (and more elegant) just to say andre.

Is the word order after “mens” special? Why not “mens vil andre bruke sitt eget navn”?

After mens (a subordinating conjunction), Norwegian uses normal subject–verb order, not verb-second:

mens andre vil bruke sitt eget navn
(conjunction) + (subject) + (verb) + ...

Putting the verb second (mens vil andre …) would be wrong here.

Compare:

Main clause (V2):
- Andre vil bruke sitt eget navn. – Others want to use their own name.
Subordinate clause (no V2):
- mens andre vil bruke sitt eget navn. – while/whereas others want to use their own name.

What is the difference between “elever” and “studenter”?

Both can translate as students in English, but in Norwegian they’re used for different levels:

elever – usually pupils in primary school, lower/upper secondary, or sometimes high school.
studenter – students in higher education (university, college).

So this sentence most naturally refers to school pupils rather than university students. If you wanted to talk clearly about university students, you’d say:

Noen studenter liker anonymitet i diskusjoner, mens andre vil bruke sitt eget navn.

Could we say “Noen elever liker å være anonyme i diskusjoner” instead of “liker anonymitet i diskusjoner”? Is there any difference?

Yes, that’s a perfectly natural alternative:

liker anonymitet i diskusjoner
– uses a noun (anonymitet), sounds a bit more abstract/formal.
liker å være anonyme i diskusjoner
– uses a verb phrase (“to be anonymous”), sounds a bit more concrete and slightly more colloquial.

Both are correct; it’s mainly a stylistic choice.