Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir i morges, så jeg måtte gå til butikken før frokost.

Yes. Å gå tom for is a very common expression meaning to run out of something.

Literally, it is something like to go empty of, but you should learn it as a set phrase:

• Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir = We ran out of toilet paper
• Jeg gikk tom for penger = I ran out of money
• Bilen gikk tom for bensin = The car ran out of gas

So even though gå usually means go/walk, in this expression the whole phrase has a special meaning.

Gikk is the past tense of gå.

The base verb is å gå, and one past form is gikk:

• å gå = to go
• gikk = went

In this sentence, it is part of the idiom gikk tom for, so it means ran out in the past:

• Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir = We ran out of toilet paper

This is not a literal walking action here.

Because the sentence talks about a finished event at a specific time in the past: i morges = this morning.

In Norwegian, when you mention a definite past time, the simple past is very common and often preferred:

• Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir i morges
• Jeg måtte gå til butikken før frokost

That is similar to English:

• We ran out of toilet paper this morning
• I had to go to the store before breakfast

Using a perfect form here would usually sound less natural in this context.

Måtte is the past tense of må, which means must / have to.

So here:

• jeg måtte gå = I had to go

A quick comparison:

• Jeg må gå = I have to go / I must go
• Jeg måtte gå = I had to go

So måtte does not mean must in the present here; it means a past obligation.

Because after modal verbs in Norwegian, you normally use the infinitive without å.

Common modal verbs include:

• kan
• vil
• skal
• må
• burde
• kunne
• ville
• skulle
• måtte

So you say:

• Jeg må gå = I must go
• Jeg måtte gå = I had to go
• Jeg kan svømme = I can swim

Not:

• Jeg måtte å gå ❌

This is very similar to English, where we also say I must go, not I must to go.

I morges means this morning, referring to one specific morning, usually the morning of the same day.

• Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir i morges = We ran out of toilet paper this morning

Om morgenen usually means in the morning in a general or habitual sense:

• Jeg drikker kaffe om morgenen = I drink coffee in the morning

So:

• i morges = a specific morning
• om morgenen = mornings in general / in the mornings

Because til shows movement to a place.

• gå til butikken = go to the store

Compare:

• Jeg går til butikken = I am going to the store
• Jeg er i butikken = I am in the store

So til answers the question where to?, while i answers where?

You may also hear på butikken in some dialects or informal speech, but til butikken is a very safe standard choice when you mean movement toward the store.

Butikken is the definite form, meaning the store.

In context, the speaker usually means a specific, understood store, often just the usual local shop. Norwegian often uses the definite form in places where English also says the:

• gå til butikken = go to the store

If you said til en butikk, that would mean to a store, any store, not a specific one.

So:

• til butikken = to the store
• til en butikk = to a store

In Norwegian, meal words often appear without an article after prepositions when speaking generally.

So:

• før frokost = before breakfast
• etter middag = after dinner
• til lunsj = for lunch

This is very natural in Norwegian.

If you wanted to refer to a specific breakfast, you could use the definite form:

• før frokosten = before the breakfast

But in everyday sentences, før frokost is usually the normal choice.

Here så means so, linking two main clauses:

• Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir i morges, så jeg måtte gå til butikken før frokost.

Because så is acting as a coordinating conjunction here, the second clause keeps normal main-clause word order:

• så jeg måtte gå ...

not

• så måtte jeg gå ... in this exact structure

A useful comparison is derfor = therefore:

• Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir i morges. Derfor måtte jeg gå til butikken før frokost.

After derfor, you do get inversion:

• Derfor måtte jeg gå ...

So this sentence is normal because så here works like English so.

Yes. Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• toalettpapir = toilet paper
• frokostbord = breakfast table
• matbutikk = grocery store

This is different from English, which often writes similar expressions as two words.

So toalett papir would be wrong in standard Norwegian.

Yes, absolutely. That is a very natural alternative.

• Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir = We ran out of toilet paper
• Vi hadde ikke mer toalettpapir = We didn’t have any more toilet paper

The difference is mostly one of perspective:

• gikk tom for focuses on the event of running out
• hadde ikke mer focuses on the situation of not having any left

Both are common and useful.

Because the sentence joins two full clauses:

• Vi gikk tom for toalettpapir i morges
• jeg måtte gå til butikken før frokost

In Norwegian, it is normal to use a comma between two independent clauses joined by a conjunction like så.

So the comma helps show the break between:

• what happened first
• the result that followed

That is why the punctuation here is natural and correct.