På verkstedet sa hun at bremsene måtte sjekkes før vi kunne kjøre videre.

Because Norwegian often puts a time or place expression first to set the scene. På verkstedet means at the workshop / at the garage.

When a non-subject comes first in a main clause, Norwegian still keeps the verb in the second position. That is why you get:

På verkstedet sa hun ...

and not På verkstedet hun sa ...

This is a very common Norwegian pattern.

With places like verksted, Norwegian often uses på where English would use at or sometimes in.

So:

• på verkstedet = at the workshop/garage
• literally, it may look like on the workshop, but that is not how it functions in Norwegian

Prepositions do not always match English directly, so this is something learners usually just have to get used to.

Verkstedet is the definite form: the workshop.

Norwegian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun:

• et verksted = a workshop
• verkstedet = the workshop

So På verkstedet means At the workshop, not just At a workshop.

This is because of the verb-second rule in Norwegian main clauses.

In a normal statement, you might have:

• Hun sa at ... = She said that ...

But when På verkstedet is moved to the front, the finite verb must still come second:

• På verkstedet sa hun at ...

So the order becomes:

1. På verkstedet
2. sa
3. hun

This inversion is completely normal in Norwegian.

At is the conjunction that.

It introduces a subordinate clause:

• sa hun at bremsene måtte sjekkes ...
• she said that the brakes had to be checked ...

In everyday English, that is often omitted, but in Norwegian at is very common and natural here.

Bremsene is the definite plural form of brems:

• en brems = a brake
• bremser = brakes
• bremsene = the brakes

So the sentence is talking about specific brakes, not brakes in general.

Måtte is the past tense of må.

• må = must / have to
• måtte = had to / had to be

Here it is part of reported speech in the past:

• sa hun at bremsene måtte sjekkes
  = she said that the brakes had to be checked

English also often shifts tense this way after a past reporting verb like said.

Sjekkes is a passive form.

So:

• sjekke = to check
• sjekkes = be checked

That means:

• bremsene måtte sjekkes = the brakes had to be checked

This -s passive is very common in Norwegian. It is often used instead of a form like bli sjekket.

Yes. A possible alternative is:

bremsene måtte bli sjekket

That also means the brakes had to be checked.

But måtte sjekkes is shorter and very natural. Norwegian often prefers this -s passive in this kind of sentence.

Because modal verbs in Norwegian are followed directly by the infinitive, without å.

So you get:

• måtte sjekkes
• kunne kjøre

not:

• måtte å sjekkes
• kunne å kjøre

This is similar to English, where modal verbs also do not take to:

• had to check
• could drive

Kunne is the past tense of kan:

• kan = can
• kunne = could

So:

• før vi kunne kjøre videre = before we could continue driving / before we could drive on

Again, the sentence is in a past context, so kunne fits naturally.

Because før introduces a subordinate clause.

In Norwegian subordinate clauses, the word order is usually more straightforward:

• før vi kunne kjøre videre

Subject first, then the finite verb:

• vi = subject
• kunne = finite verb

Compare that with the main clause:

• På verkstedet sa hun ...
  where the verb-second rule applies

So the sentence shows two different patterns:

• main clause: V2 word order
• subordinate clause: more regular subject–verb order

Videre means further / onward / on.

In this sentence, kjøre videre means:

• continue driving
• drive on
• go on

So videre adds the idea of continuing after a stop.

It is a very common combination. Not a completely fixed idiom, but a very natural phrase.

• kjøre = drive
• videre = on / further

Together, kjøre videre means drive on or continue driving.

You will see similar patterns with other verbs too:

• gå videre = go on / continue
• reise videre = travel onward
• jobbe videre = keep working / continue working

A useful way to break it down is:

• På verkstedet = place expression
• sa hun = main clause verb + subject
• at bremsene måtte sjekkes = content of what she said
• før vi kunne kjøre videre = time clause explaining when driving could continue

So the skeleton is:

[Place] + [she said] + [that ...] + [before ...]

That makes it a good example of how Norwegian combines:

• fronted adverbials
• verb-second word order
• subordinate clauses
• modal verbs
• passive forms