Jeg liker å reise i landet.

I like to travel in the country.

Breakdown of Jeg liker å reise i landet.

• jeg: I
• å: to
• i: in
• reise: to travel

Questions & Answers about Jeg liker å reise i landet.

What does å mean here, and why do we need it before reise?

Å is the infinitive marker, roughly like English to in to travel.

• å reise = to travel
• å spise = to eat
• å lese = to read

In this sentence, å reise i landet is what you like doing. It’s an infinitive phrase acting as the object of liker:

• Jeg (subject)
• liker (conjugated verb)
• å reise i landet (what you like – “to travel in the country”)

You cannot leave out å here; *Jeg liker reise i landet is ungrammatical.

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Are there times when you don’t use å before a verb in Norwegian?