På vei hjem kjøpte hun også servietter, fordi vi nesten var tomme for servietter til middagen.

På vei hjem means on the way home.

• på vei is a fixed expression meaning on the way / en route
• It does not usually take the definite form veien in this expression
• på veien would more literally mean on the road or on the street, not the idiomatic on the way

So På vei hjem is the normal Norwegian way to say on the way home.

Because hjem usually expresses movement toward home, while hjemme expresses location at home.

• Jeg drar hjem = I’m going home
• Jeg er hjemme = I’m at home

In På vei hjem, the person is in the process of going home, so hjem is the correct choice.

This is because Norwegian is a V2 language: in a main clause, the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

Here, På vei hjem is placed first in the sentence. Once that happens, the verb must come next:

• På vei hjem kjøpte hun også servietter

If you started with the subject instead, you would get:

• Hun kjøpte også servietter på vei hjem

Both are correct, but when a time/place phrase comes first, the verb moves before the subject.

In this sentence, også means also / too, and its position is natural after the subject in this clause structure.

Because the sentence starts with På vei hjem, the order becomes:

• first element: På vei hjem
• finite verb: kjøpte
• subject: hun
• then også

So:

• På vei hjem kjøpte hun også servietter

A more basic word order would be:

• Hun kjøpte også servietter på vei hjem

That is probably the easiest pattern for learners to remember.

Fordi means because. It introduces the reason:

• ...fordi vi nesten var tomme for servietter til middagen
• ...because we were almost out of napkins for dinner

It introduces a subordinate clause. In Norwegian, subordinate clauses do not use the same inversion pattern as main clauses.

So after fordi, you normally keep the subject before the verb:

• fordi vi var ...
• not fordi var vi ...

A learner may notice that vi nesten var tomme is understandable, but vi var nesten tomme is more natural in everyday Norwegian.

So many native speakers would be more likely to say:

• ...fordi vi var nesten tomme for servietter til middagen

Why?

Because nesten here most naturally modifies tomme or the whole idea of being almost out, so it usually comes after var:

• vi var nesten tomme
• literally: we were almost empty / almost out

So the original sentence is understandable, but vi var nesten tomme is the more idiomatic version.

Å være tom for noe means to be out of something or to have no more of something left.

Examples:

• Vi er tomme for melk = We’re out of milk
• Butikken var tom for brød = The shop was out of bread

So:

• vi var tomme for servietter means
• we were out of napkins

This is a very common Norwegian pattern.

Because tomme agrees with vi, which is plural.

In predicate adjective agreement:

• jeg er tom
• hun er tom
• vi er tomme

So even though English would usually say we were out of napkins, Norwegian uses the adjective tom, and with vi it becomes tomme.

Norwegian often repeats the noun when that makes the sentence clearer.

So this is perfectly natural:

• ...kjøpte hun også servietter, fordi vi var nesten tomme for servietter...

You could replace the second servietter with a pronoun, for example:

• ...fordi vi nesten var tomme for dem...

But that often sounds a little less clear or a little less natural here. Repeating servietter is simple and easy to understand.

Til middagen means for dinner or more literally for the dinner meal.

• middag = dinner
• middagen = the dinner

The definite form is used because this refers to a specific meal, not dinner in general. In English, we often just say for dinner, but Norwegian may use the definite form more naturally in this kind of context.

So:

• servietter til middagen means
• napkins for dinner or
• napkins for the meal

It suggests a particular dinner they were about to have.