Vi venter en stund.

En stund is a noun phrase (stund = “while/a while”, en = “a”) that functions adverbially: it tells how long you wait. It’s not a direct object in the usual sense (you’re not “waiting a while” as a thing), but Norwegian often uses a noun phrase like this as a duration expression.

Norwegian present tense commonly covers both:

• what you’re doing now: Vi venter en stund.
• near-future intention: Vi venter en stund. (≈ “We’ll wait a bit.”)

If you want to be extra explicit about intention/future, you can also say Vi skal vente en stund.

The infinitive is å vente (“to wait”). In Bokmål, the present tense of many verbs is formed by adding -r:

• å vente → venter
• å jobbe → jobber

So venter is simply present tense of å vente.

Only if you say what you’re waiting for.

• Without an explicit “for”-object: Vi venter en stund. (“We’re waiting for a while.”)
• Waiting for something/someone: Vi venter på bussen. / Vi venter på deg.

So på is used when the thing/person you’re waiting for is stated.

Stund means “a short while / a while” and is common in everyday Norwegian. En stund is a very standard, natural way to say “for a while.”

Close alternatives include:

• litt (“a bit”) → Vi venter litt.
• en liten stund (“a little while”) → slightly softer/shorter feel

In Bokmål, stund is typically treated as a common-gender noun, so the indefinite article is en (common gender). Some speakers also use feminine forms (especially depending on dialect/style), where you may see:

• Bokmål (common): en stund
• Feminine option/dialectal: ei stund

Et is for neuter nouns, which stund is not.

No—stund normally needs a determiner/article in this meaning. Natural options are:

• Vi venter en stund.
• Vi venter ei stund. (some dialects)
• Vi venter litt. (no noun, so no article)

The straightforward negation places ikke after the verb:

• Vi venter ikke. (“We’re not waiting.”)

If you want to negate the duration idea, Norwegian typically rephrases:

• Vi venter ikke lenge. (“We’re not waiting long.”)
• Vi venter ikke så lenge. (“We won’t wait that long.”)

Vi venter ikke en stund is possible but often sounds less natural than the “lenge” versions.

Yes/no questions usually invert verb and subject:

• Venter vi en stund? (“Are we waiting for a while?”)

In a main clause with another element first, Norwegian follows V2 word order (verb second):

• Nå venter vi en stund. (“Now we’re waiting for a while.”)
• Nå venter vi en stund, ikke sant? (“Now we’ll wait a bit, right?”)

• Vi venter. focuses on the action of waiting (no target mentioned).
• Vi venter på … specifies the target you’re waiting for.

So Vi venter en stund means you’ll wait for some time; it doesn’t say what for.

A common Nynorsk equivalent is:

• Vi ventar ei stund.

Key differences:

• venter (Bokmål) ↔ ventar (Nynorsk present tense pattern)
• en (Bokmål common gender) ↔ ei (Nynorsk feminine article often used with stund)

A rough, learner-friendly guide (Eastern Norwegian-ish):

• Vi: “vee” (long i sound)
• venter: roughly “VEN-ter” (with a Norwegian v that can sound like a soft v/w)
• en stund: “en stoon(d)” (the u is a Norwegian vowel—don’t make it like English “uh”; final consonants can be a bit softer depending on dialect)

If you want, tell me the dialect you’re aiming for (Oslo area, Bergen, etc.) and I can give a more precise pronunciation guide.