Jeg skrubber bordet med svampen, for det er skittent.

I scrub the table with the sponge, because it is dirty.

Breakdown of Jeg skrubber bordet med svampen, for det er skittent.

• jeg: I
• være: to be
• med: with
• det: it
• bordet: the table
• skitten: dirty
• for: because
• svampen: the sponge
• skrubbe: to scrub

Questions & Answers about Jeg skrubber bordet med svampen, for det er skittent.

Why is it skrubber and not skrubbe?

Skrubber is the present tense form (I scrub / I’m scrubbing). The infinitive is å skrubbe (to scrub).

• å skrubbe = infinitive
• jeg skrubber = present tense
• jeg skrubbet = past tense (I scrubbed)
• jeg har skrubbet = perfect (I have scrubbed)

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What’s the difference between bordet and et bord?

Norwegian often attaches the to the end of the noun (the “definite suffix”).

• et bord = a table (indefinite)
• bordet = the table (definite)
  Here it’s bordet because the speaker is talking about a specific table.

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Why is it svampen (definite) and not en svamp?

Same definite idea as with bordet:

• en svamp = a sponge
• svampen = the sponge
  Using svampen suggests it’s a known/specific sponge (for example, the one you normally use).

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Why do we use med here?

Med commonly means with, and it’s used for tools/instruments: doing something with something.
So med svampen = using the sponge as the tool.
You’ll see the same pattern in things like jeg skriver med en penn (I write with a pen).

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Is the comma before for necessary?

Yes, normally you use a comma before for when it links two clauses like this.
Norwegian punctuation typically puts a comma before coordinating conjunctions such as for, men, og when they connect two full clauses (each with its own subject + verb).

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Why does the second part start with det?

Det here is a pronoun meaning it (referring back to bordet). Norwegian commonly uses det to refer to an object already mentioned: bordet … for det er ….

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Why is it skittent and not skitten?

Adjectives agree with gender/number in Norwegian. Bord is neuter (et bord), so the adjective takes the neuter form -t:

• et bord → bordet er skittent
  For common gender (en-words), you’d usually get skitten:
• en gulvklut → den er skitten (it is dirty)

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Could it be den er skitten instead of det er skittent?

For bordet, standard agreement is det … skittent because bord is neuter.
You use den with common-gender nouns (most en-words): den er skitten.
Using den about bordet would sound wrong in standard Norwegian.

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What kind of word is for here, and why is the word order det er (not inverted)?

Here for means because/for, and it works like a coordinating conjunction introducing a new main clause. That’s why the clause after it has normal main-clause word order: subject + verb → det er.
If you front something inside the clause, then you’d get inversion as usual, e.g. for i dag er det skittent (for today it’s dirty).

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Could I use fordi instead of for?

Often yes, but the nuance changes a bit:

• for feels more like “I’m telling you the reason as an added explanation,” and it’s common in writing too.
• fordi is the more direct “because.”
  Both are natural here; for is especially common when the reason-clause comes after a comma like this.

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Why is it Jeg skrubber bordet and not Jeg bordet skrubber?

Norwegian is generally SVO (subject–verb–object) in simple statements:
Jeg (S) + skrubber (V) + bordet (O).
Norwegian does have a strict “verb-second” rule (V2) in main clauses, but in a plain sentence with the subject first, it looks just like English word order.