Er alt i orden?

Is everything all right?

Breakdown of Er alt i orden?

• være: to be
• alt: everything
• i orden: in order

Questions & Answers about Er alt i orden?

Why does the sentence start with Er instead of Alt?

Because this is a yes/no question in Norwegian. In main clauses, Norwegian usually has verb-second word order, and in yes/no questions the finite verb often comes first.

• Statement: Alt er i orden. = everything is fine / in order
• Question: Er alt i orden? = is everything fine / in order?

This is similar to English Is everything all right?

What part of speech is er?

Er is the present tense of the verb å være (to be).

So:

• å være = to be
• er = am / are / is

In this sentence, er means is.

What does alt mean grammatically?

Alt means everything or all in this sentence.

It is the subject of the sentence:

• Er = is
• alt = everything
• i orden = in order / all right

A learner should also know that alt is related to all, but they are used differently:

• alt = everything
• all
  • noun can mean all in some other contexts

Example:

• Alt er bra. = Everything is good.