Breakdown of Jeg baker brød på søndager, og jeg bruker alltid mel.
jeg
I
brødet
the bread
og
and
på
on
alltid
always
bruke
to use
søndagen
the Sunday
bake
to bake
melet
the flour
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Questions & Answers about Jeg baker brød på søndager, og jeg bruker alltid mel.
Why is it baker and not bake?
In Norwegian, the present tense of most verbs ends in -r. The infinitive is å bake (to bake), and the present tense is jeg baker (I bake / I am baking). Norwegian doesn’t change the verb form for different subjects in the present tense, so you also get du baker, vi baker, etc.
Does jeg baker mean I bake or I am baking?
It can mean both. Norwegian present tense often covers both habitual actions (I bake) and actions happening now (I am baking). Context (and sometimes extra words like nå = now) clarifies which one is meant.
Why does brød have no article (like et) here?
Brød can be used as a mass/uncountable noun meaning bread in general, so it’s common to say bake brød (bake bread). If you mean a specific loaf, you can make it countable: et brød (a loaf of bread).
What’s the difference between brød, et brød, and brødet?
- brød = bread in general (mass noun)
- et brød = a loaf of bread (countable)
- brødet = the bread / the loaf (definite form, depending on context)
Why is it på søndager (plural) instead of på søndag?
på søndager means on Sundays in a general/habitual sense (repeatedly). på søndag usually means this coming Sunday (a specific Sunday).
Is på søndager the only way to say on Sundays?
It’s one of the most common. Another option you may see is om søndagen / om søndager, which can also mean on Sundays, but på søndager is very standard for habitual scheduling.
Why is there a comma before og?
Because it joins two full independent clauses:
- Jeg baker brød på søndager (complete clause)
- jeg bruker alltid mel (complete clause)
In Norwegian (as in English), it’s normal to use a comma before og when it connects two full sentences/clauses like that.
Do I need to repeat jeg after og?
Not strictly, but it’s very common and often sounds clearer. You could also say Jeg baker brød på søndager og bruker alltid mel, which is fine—especially in shorter sentences. Repeating jeg makes the structure more explicit.
Why is the word order jeg bruker alltid mel and not jeg alltid bruker mel?
In a main clause, Norwegian typically places adverbs like alltid after the finite verb:
- jeg bruker alltid mel
Putting alltid before the verb can happen in some contexts, but it’s less neutral and often sounds marked or unnatural here.
Why is it just mel and not et mel?
Mel (flour) is normally a mass noun, so you usually don’t use an indefinite article with it in this kind of general statement. You’d more likely quantify it: litt mel (a little flour), mye mel (a lot of flour), en pose mel (a bag of flour).
What are the genders of brød and mel, and does that matter here?
Both are neuter nouns: et brød, et mel (though et mel is rarely used in practice). Gender matters for articles and definite forms (like brødet, melet), but in this sentence you’re using the nouns without articles, so gender doesn’t visibly show.
How do you pronounce some key words here: jeg, brød, søndager?
Pronunciation varies by dialect, but roughly (Urban East Norwegian / Oslo-ish):
- jeg: often sounds like yai or jæi
- brød: the ø is like the vowel in French peu; final d is often soft or not strongly released
- søndager: stress on the first syllable: SØN-da-ger, with ø again
Could I swap alltid to the beginning: Alltid bruker jeg mel?
Yes, but then you get different word order because Norwegian uses V2 (the verb is in second position in main clauses). If you front alltid, the verb must come next:
- Alltid bruker jeg mel.
That sounds more emphatic (like I always use flour with extra emphasis), and it’s less neutral than the original sentence.