Jeg heller i litt vann og koker pasta.

Because heller is the present tense of the verb å helle (to pour).

• infinitive: å helle
• present: jeg heller
• past: jeg helte
• past participle: har helt

Yes, heller can mean rather (as in heller X enn Y = rather X than Y), but here it’s clearly the verb å helle because it follows the subject jeg and is followed by what is being poured (litt vann). In other words, the structure jeg + verb signals it’s a verb: I pour.

helle i is a common combination meaning pour in / add (by pouring). The preposition i literally means in/into, and it implies the liquid is going into some container (a pot, a bowl, a pan). The container can be left unstated if it’s obvious from context.

Yes. Both are possible, but they emphasize different things:

• Jeg heller i litt vann = focuses on the action pouring in/adding (container often implied).
• Jeg heller litt vann i kjelen = explicitly says where it goes (into the pot).

If you include the container, heller litt vann i kjelen is very common.

Because vann is usually treated as an uncountable/mass noun in Norwegian (like water in English). You typically don’t use an indefinite article with it.

• litt vann = a little water
  If you mean a countable unit (like a bottle/glass), you’d specify it:
• en flaske vann = a bottle of water
• et glass vann = a glass of water

Both relate to small amount, but they’re used differently:

• litt = some / a little (neutral, often “just a bit”)
• lite = little / not much (often more negative/limited in tone)

So heller i litt vann sounds like a normal instruction: add a bit of water.

In Norwegian, å koke is the standard verb for cooking something by boiling it in water, and pasta is typically prepared that way. So koker pasta is a natural way to say cook/boil pasta.

If you want to be extra clear you can say:

• koker pasta i vann = boil pasta in water

Pasta is often used like a mass/food noun, so koker pasta can mean cook some pasta in a general way.

• koker pasta = cooking pasta (some amount, not specified)
• koker pastaen = cooking the pasta (specific pasta already known/mentioned)

en pasta is generally not how you’d say it, unless you mean a specific type/portion in some special context.

It can be either. Norwegian present tense covers:

• actions happening now (I pour in a little water and cook pasta)
• habitual actions (I usually pour in… and cook…)
• instructions/recipe style (Then I pour in… and cook…)

Context decides which reading is intended.

When two verbs share the same subject, Norwegian usually omits the repeated subject, just like English:

• Jeg heller i litt vann og koker pasta.
  You can repeat jeg for emphasis or clarity, but it’s normally unnecessary.

Yes, but then you’ll get V2 word order (verb-second), which causes inversion:

• Så heller jeg i litt vann og koker pasta.
  Not: Så jeg heller ...

The original sentence starts with Jeg, so it keeps normal SVO order.

You place ikke after the verb it negates:

• Jeg heller ikke i litt vann og koker ikke pasta. = I don’t pour in a little water and I don’t cook pasta.

If you only want to negate one part:

• Jeg heller i litt vann, men koker ikke pasta. = I pour in a little water, but I don’t cook pasta.