Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Hun går ikke til intervjuet, med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig. - She will not go to the interview unless she gets the answer in writing.

You cannot say Hun ikke går til intervjuet in a neutral statement. That would sound ungrammatical, just like She not goes to the interview in English.

You can move ikke in some special cases (for emphasis, or in subordinate clauses), but for a simple main clause like this, Subject – Verb – ikke – … is the standard pattern.

Why is there a comma before med mindre? Is it required?

Yes, that comma follows a general rule: in Norwegian you normally put a comma before a subordinate clause.

med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig is a subordinate clause (it can’t stand alone as a full sentence). So:

Main clause: Hun går ikke til intervjuet
Subordinate clause: med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig

You separate them with a comma:

Hun går ikke til intervjuet, med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig.

If you flip the order and start with the subordinate clause, you still use a comma:

Med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig, går hun ikke til intervjuet.

What exactly does med mindre mean, and how is it used compared to English unless?

med mindre is the standard written equivalent of English unless.

It introduces a condition that, if fulfilled, makes the main clause not happen (or vice versa), just like unless.

Structure:

[Main clause], med mindre [subordinate clause].
Hun går ikke til intervjuet, med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig.

This corresponds to:

She will not go to the interview, unless she gets the answer in writing.

Some points:

med mindre is a fixed expression; you can’t split it.
Many Norwegians also say hvis ikke in speech with almost the same meaning:
Hun går ikke til intervjuet, hvis ikke hun får svaret skriftlig.
In writing, med mindre often sounds a bit more formal/standard than hvis ikke.

Could I put the med mindre-clause at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes, that’s completely correct and quite natural:

Med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig, går hun ikke til intervjuet.

Word order rules:

In the subordinate clause (after med mindre), the verb comes after the subject:
hun får, not får hun.
In the main clause that follows, Norwegian uses V2 word order (the verb is in 2nd position). Since the whole med mindre-clause is treated as position 1, the verb comes right after it:
Med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig, går hun ikke til intervjuet.
(Clause = position 1, går = position 2)

Why is it går and not something more like drar here? Does går always mean “walk”?

går literally means “walks”, but it’s also used in a more general sense of “go” when the exact means of transport isn’t important, especially for shorter distances or events.

In this sentence, several options are possible:

Hun går ikke til intervjuet …
– Neutral, can imply going on foot, but not strongly focused on that.
Hun drar ikke til intervjuet …
– Slightly more neutral about transport; often just “go” / “leave for”.
Hun skal ikke på intervju …
– More idiomatic in speech: “She’s not going to (attending) the interview.”

Hun går ikke til intervjuet is fine and grammatical. In some contexts, if everyone knows she would go by car or train, some speakers might prefer drar or skal på intervju, but går is still acceptable.

Why is it til intervjuet and not på intervjuet? Are both possible?

Both are possible, but they focus on slightly different things:

til intervjuet = “to the interview” (direction / destination)
- Emphasis on going to the place where the interview will happen.
på intervjuet = “at the interview” (more about being at/attending the event)
- Often used in expressions like være på intervju (to be at an interview) or dra på intervju (go to an interview).

Your sentence:

Hun går ikke til intervjuet, med mindre …

is perfectly fine. You could also say:

Hun drar ikke på intervju, med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig.
(Here intervju is indefinite and the phrase is more like “go to an interview” as an event.)

So:

til intervjuet – focus on movement towards a specific interview.
på intervju – more idiomatic for “go to / be at an interview” in general speech.

Why is it intervjuet (definite) and svaret (definite)? Could I use the indefinite forms?

In Norwegian, the definite ending -et on intervjuet and svaret means “the”:

intervjuet = the interview
svaret = the answer

They are definite because the speaker is talking about one specific interview and one specific answer, which both speaker and listener presumably know about:

That interview (e.g. for a job she applied for)
That answer (e.g. to an application or question)

You could use indefinite forms in other contexts:

Hun går ikke på intervju, med mindre hun får et skriftlig svar.
= She won’t go to an interview unless she gets a written answer.

The choice between definite and indefinite in Norwegian works very much like the vs a/an in English. Here, the definite form matches the idea that we’re talking about a known, specific interview and answer.

Why is it får svaret skriftlig and not får et skriftlig svar? What’s the difference?

Both versions are grammatical but have slightly different structures:

Hun får svaret skriftlig.
- får = gets
- svaret = the answer (direct object)
- skriftlig = “in writing” (adverbial: how she gets it)
This is like saying:
She gets the answer *in writing.*
Hun får et skriftlig svar.
- får = gets
- et skriftlig svar = a written answer (one noun phrase, with skriftlig as an adjective describing svar)
This is like:
She gets a written answer.

In your sentence:

Hun går ikke til intervjuet, med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig.

the idea is often that there is already a known answer (e.g. “yes” or “no”), and she wants that answer in written form, not just verbally. So svaret is definite.

If you said:

… med mindre hun får et skriftlig svar.

it’s a bit more like she wants some answer, and that answer must be written. Both are understandable; context decides which sounds more natural.

Is skriftlig an adjective or an adverb here? Does it change form?

skriftlig can be both an adjective and an adverb in Norwegian.

As an adjective (describing a noun):
- et skriftlig svar (a written answer)
- en skriftlig beskjed (a written message)
- skriftlige prøver (written exams, plural)
As an adverb (describing how something is done):
- Hun får svaret skriftlig. (She gets the answer in writing.)
- Gi beskjed skriftlig. (Give notice in writing.)

In your sentence, skriftlig is an adverb explaining how she gets the answer.

Form changes:

As an adjective, it changes for number and definiteness:
- singular indefinite: skriftlig
- plural/definite: skriftlige
As an adverb, it stays skriftlig and does not change form.

The Norwegian is in the present tense (går, får), but the English translation would usually be future. Is that normal?

Yes. Norwegian often uses the present tense to talk about future events, especially when the context makes the time clear.

Your sentence:

Hun går ikke til intervjuet, med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig.

literally uses present tense verbs, but naturally corresponds to English:

She *won’t go to the interview unless she gets the answer in writing.*

In Norwegian, you can also express the future with skal:

Hun skal ikke gå til intervjuet, med mindre …
Hun skal ikke på intervju, med mindre …

But the plain present tense is very commonly used for future plans and conditions, especially when there’s some kind of time reference or conditional structure (like med mindre, hvis, når).

Could I say Hun går til intervjuet, med mindre hun ikke får svaret skriftlig? What would that mean?

Yes, that sentence is grammatical, but the meaning changes because of where ikke is placed.

Your original:

Hun går ikke til intervjuet, med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig.
= She will not go to the interview, unless she gets the answer in writing.
(Default: she doesn’t go. She only goes if she gets it in writing.)

Alternative:

Hun går til intervjuet, med mindre hun ikke får svaret skriftlig.
Literally: She goes to the interview, unless she doesn’t get the answer in writing.

This second version is logically confusing in both languages. It roughly means:

She will go to the interview, except in the case that she doesn’t get the answer in writing.

Most native speakers would avoid this wording because it’s easy to misinterpret. Normally, you’d pick one of these clearer options:

Hun går ikke til intervjuet, med mindre hun får svaret skriftlig.
Hun går til intervjuet hvis hun får svaret skriftlig.
(She will go to the interview if she gets the answer in writing.)

So the original sentence is already the most natural and clear way to express that condition.