Breakdown of Jeg heller i litt vann og koker pasta.
Questions & Answers about 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.