Jeg skyller koppen med varmt vann etter kaffen.

I rinse the cup with warm water after the coffee.

Breakdown of Jeg skyller koppen med varmt vann etter kaffen.

• jeg: I
• vannet: the water
• med: with
• varm: warm
• kaffen: the coffee
• etter: after
• koppen: the cup
• skylle: to rinse

Questions & Answers about Jeg skyller koppen med varmt vann etter kaffen.

Why is it jeg and not meg?

Jeg is the subject form (I) used when you’re the doer of the action: Jeg skyller … = I rinse ….
Meg is the object form (me) used after verbs/prepositions, e.g. Han ser meg (He sees me) or med meg (with me).

What tense is skyller, and does Norwegian need an auxiliary like am/do?

Skyller is present tense of å skylle (to rinse). Norwegian present tense often covers both habitual and “right now” meanings, depending on context.
Norwegian does not use a do-support auxiliary like English (I do rinse), and it doesn’t need am for simple present actions.

Why does Norwegian use the definite form koppen instead of something like en kopp?

Koppen means the cup (definite). Norwegian often uses the definite form when you mean a specific, known item in the situation (e.g., the cup you just used).
If you mean a cup in general/unspecified, you’d say en kopp: Jeg skyller en kopp …

How is definiteness formed in koppen?

Norwegian commonly marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun:

• kopp = cup
• en kopp = a cup (indefinite)
• koppen = the cup (definite)

Why is it med varmt vann and not med varme vann?

Because vann is neuter (et vann), and adjectives agree in gender/number:

• varm (common gender singular)
• varmt (neuter singular)
• varme (plural/definite)

So varmt vann is correct: adjective in neuter singular + noun.

Why is there no article before vann (not et vann)?

Vann here is a mass noun (uncountable) meaning water in general, so Norwegian usually omits the article: varmt vann = warm water.
Et vann typically means a lake in Norwegian, and et vann meaning “a serving/glass of water” is possible only in specific contexts, not here.

What does med mean here—does it mean “with” or “using”?

Both interpretations are essentially the same here. Med can mean with/by means of/using.
So skylde … med varmt vann means you rinse it using warm water.

Could you also say i varmt vann instead of med varmt vann?

Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly:

• med varmt vann focuses on the means (you use water to rinse).
• i varmt vann focuses on location/immersion (you rinse it in warm water, e.g., in a bowl/sink of warm water).

Both can be natural depending on what you’re describing.

Why is it etter kaffen and not etter kaffe?

Etter kaffen literally means after the coffee—usually understood as “after having the coffee / after the coffee I just drank.” Norwegian often uses the definite form for events/items that are contextually known.
Etter kaffe is possible but more general and sounds more like after coffee (as a general routine/time).

Is etter kaffen short for etter å ha drukket kaffe?

Very often, yes in meaning. Norwegian can use a noun phrase like etter kaffen to imply an event: “after (drinking/having) the coffee.” It’s a common, natural shorthand.

Where does the word order come from—why is etter kaffen at the end?

Norwegian word order is fairly flexible, but the neutral pattern is: Subject + verb + object + (prepositional phrases/time phrases)
So: Jeg + skyller + koppen + med varmt vann + etter kaffen.

You can move the time phrase forward for emphasis:

• Etter kaffen skyller jeg koppen med varmt vann.
  In that case, Norwegian triggers V2 word order, so the verb skyller still comes in the second position.

Do Norwegians ever say skyller av here?

Yes. Å skylle already means to rinse, but å skylle av often sounds a bit more like rinse off (especially food residue/soap).
Both can work:

• Jeg skyller koppen … (neutral)
• Jeg skyller av koppen … (emphasizes rinsing off something)

How would you pronounce the tricky parts like skyller, koppen, and etter?

A rough guide (varies by dialect):

• skyller: the y is like a “front rounded” vowel (similar to German ü). The ll can be light or more “thick” depending on dialect.
• koppen: stress on KOP-, short o.
• etter: stress on ET-, double t makes the t sound “shorter/held” a bit, and the r varies (rolled, tapped, or uvular depending on region).