Før hun sender CV-en og søknadsbrevet, ber Anna en venn lese alt en gang til.

Because Norwegian main clauses normally follow the V2 rule: the finite verb comes in the second position.

Here, the sentence starts with the subordinate clause Før hun sender CV-en og søknadsbrevet. That whole clause takes the first position, so the finite verb of the main clause must come next:

• Før hun sender CV-en og søknadsbrevet, ber Anna en venn lese alt en gang til.

If you removed the opening clause, you would get the more basic word order:

• Anna ber en venn lese alt en gang til.

So ber Anna is not unusual; it is just standard Norwegian word order after something has been placed first.

Norwegian often uses the present tense for future actions, especially when the action is planned or expected.

So:

• Før hun sender ...
  means Before she sends ...

Even though the sending has not happened yet, Norwegian does not need a special future form here. This is very common.

Compare:

• Jeg reiser i morgen. = I’m leaving tomorrow.
• Hun ringer senere. = She’ll call later.

Because Før hun sender CV-en og søknadsbrevet is a subordinate clause.

In subordinate clauses, Norwegian usually keeps the normal subject + verb order:

• hun sender

In the main clause, Norwegian follows the V2 rule, so after the opening subordinate clause, the verb comes before the subject:

• ber Anna

So the sentence shows two different patterns:

• Subordinate clause: hun sender
• Main clause: ber Anna

That difference is very typical in Norwegian.

Because after be in the pattern be noen gjøre noe, Norwegian uses the bare infinitive.

So:

• Anna ber en venn lese alt ...

not:

• Anna ber en venn å lese alt ...

This works like English ask someone to do something, but Norwegian does not use å here.

More examples:

• Jeg ba ham komme. = I asked him to come.
• Hun ber barna vente. = She asks the children to wait.

Ber is the present tense of å be, which often means to ask in this kind of sentence.

Here:

• Anna ber en venn lese alt en gang til.

means that Anna asks a friend to read everything once more.

Be careful, because å be can also mean to pray, depending on context. But in this sentence it clearly means ask.

Because CV is an abbreviation, and Norwegian often adds the definite ending with a hyphen after abbreviations, letters, and similar forms.

So:

• CV = a CV / CV
• CV-en = the CV

The hyphen makes it easier to read.

You will often see similar patterns like:

• PC-en = the computer
• TV-en = the TV

Because Norwegian very often forms compound nouns as one word.

Here:

• søknad = application
• brev = letter
• søknadsbrev = application letter
• søknadsbrevet = the application letter

This is extremely common in Norwegian. Where English often writes several words, Norwegian frequently combines them into one compound.

They are both definite forms, but they are built differently.

• CV-en: abbreviation + definite ending with hyphen
• søknadsbrevet: regular noun/compound noun + definite ending

Also, the endings reflect grammatical gender:

• en CV → CV-en
• et søknadsbrev → søknadsbrevet

So the difference comes from both spelling type and gender.

Because the sentence means a friend, not the friend.

• en venn = an unspecified friend
• vennen = the friend, a specific one already known

So Anna ber en venn ... means she asks some friend / a friend, without identifying which one.

If it were a specific friend already known from context, Norwegian could use:

• Anna ber vennen sin lese alt en gang til.
  = Anna asks her friend to read everything once more.

Alt means everything here.

• lese alt = read everything

Use alt for the whole of something in a general sense.

By contrast, alle means all or everyone, and is used with plural nouns or people:

• alle bøkene = all the books
• alle = everyone

So in this sentence, alt is correct because it refers to the whole content of the CV and letter.

En gang til means one more time or again.

So:

• lese alt en gang til = read everything one more time

It is a very common expression.

Examples:

• Kan du si det en gang til? = Can you say that again?
• Jeg vil prøve en gang til. = I want to try one more time.

Usually, yes, in sentences like this.

• Før hun sender ... = Before she sends ...

But learners should remember that Norwegian før can appear in slightly different structures depending on context. In this sentence, it introduces a time clause, so before is the natural translation.

English says:

• Anna asks a friend to read everything again.

Norwegian structures this differently:

• Anna ber en venn lese alt en gang til.

After be, Norwegian does not need a separate word matching English to. The infinitive lese appears directly after the object en venn.

So the structure is more like:

• ask + someone + read

rather than:

• ask + someone + to read

Yes, often it could.

For example:

• ... ber Anna en venn lese alt igjen.

That would also mean read everything again.

However, en gang til often emphasizes one more time, while igjen is a more general again. In many everyday situations, both are possible, but en gang til fits very naturally here because proofreading something one more time is the idea.

A helpful breakdown is:

• Før hun sender CV-en og søknadsbrevet,
  = subordinate time clause

• ber Anna en venn lese alt en gang til.
  = main clause

Inside the main clause:

• ber = finite verb
• Anna = subject
• en venn = object of ber
• lese alt en gang til = infinitive phrase explaining what Anna asks the friend to do

So the overall meaning is built like this:

Before she sends the CV and the application letter, Anna asks a friend to read everything one more time.