Så fort barna ser taco på bordet, tar de tortillaer og avokado uten å vente.

Så fort means as soon as. It introduces a time clause: Så fort barna ser taco på bordet = As soon as the children see taco on the table.

In everyday Norwegian, så fort is very common and natural. You could also hear så snart, which means almost the same thing.

Barna is the definite plural form of barn:

• et barn = a child
• barn = children
• barna = the children

So barna means the children.

Barn is one of those nouns whose singular and indefinite plural look the same.

In this sentence, taco is being used like a food item in a general sense, not as a taco meaning one single taco. Norwegian often leaves out an article with food words in this kind of context.

So:

• ser taco på bordet = see taco on the table

This feels similar to English phrases like We’re having pizza or There’s cake on the table, where the food is treated as a substance or meal rather than one countable item.

På bordet means on the table.

Here, the speaker is referring to a specific table in the situation, so Norwegian uses the definite form:

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

If you said på et bord, it would mean on a table, which sounds less specific.

This is because of Norwegian word order.

The sentence starts with a subordinate clause:

• Så fort barna ser taco på bordet

After that comes the main clause. In a Norwegian main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second position. Since the first position is already taken by the subordinate clause, the verb comes before the subject:

• tar de tortillaer og avokado

So this is normal V2 word order.

Compare:

• De tar tortillaer og avokado. = They take tortillas and avocado.
• Så fort barna ser taco på bordet, tar de tortillaer og avokado. = As soon as the children see taco on the table, they take tortillas and avocado.

Both are in the present tense:

• ser = see / sees
• tar = take / takes

Norwegian often uses the present tense in sentences like this, just as English does with as soon as clauses:

• As soon as they see it, they take...

So even if the meaning is about a repeated action or a general habit, the present tense is completely natural.

Because they are being treated differently grammatically.

• tortillaer is the plural of en tortilla

  • en tortilla = a tortilla
  • tortillaer = tortillas

• avokado here is being used more like an uncountable food word, similar to avocado in English when you mean the ingredient in general.

So the sentence suggests something like: they grab tortillas and avocado.

If you wanted to stress whole individual avocados, you might use a countable form instead, depending on context.

Uten å vente means without waiting.

This pattern is very common in Norwegian:

• uten å + infinitive

Examples:

• uten å spise = without eating
• uten å si noe = without saying anything
• uten å vente = without waiting

The å is the infinitive marker, like to in English:

• å vente = to wait

Literally, tar means take. In this sentence, it most likely means something like:

• grab
• help themselves to
• take

So tar de tortillaer og avokado gives the idea that they quickly start helping themselves to the food.

As often in Norwegian, the most natural English translation may be slightly less literal than take.

Yes. In this sentence, de means they, and it clearly refers back to barna = the children.

This kind of repetition is normal. Norwegian does not normally repeat the noun here if a pronoun works naturally.

Yes, but not in this sentence.

Så fort can mean:

• as soon as when it introduces a clause
• so fast in other contexts

Here, because it is followed by a full clause (barna ser taco på bordet), it means as soon as.

Compare:

• Han løper så fort. = He runs so fast.
• Så fort barna ser taco på bordet... = As soon as the children see taco on the table...

The comma separates the introductory subordinate clause from the main clause:

• Så fort barna ser taco på bordet,
• tar de tortillaer og avokado uten å vente.

In Norwegian, it is standard to use a comma between a subordinate clause and the following main clause when the subordinate clause comes first.

Yes. Så snart is a very close alternative to så fort and also means as soon as.

So this would also be natural:

• Så snart barna ser taco på bordet, tar de tortillaer og avokado uten å vente.

Both are common. Så fort can sound a bit more everyday and conversational in many contexts.

It can easily be understood as a habitual/repeated action: every time the children see taco on the table, they immediately grab tortillas and avocado.

That is a very common use of the present tense in Norwegian. Without extra context, many learners would naturally read it as a general pattern rather than one single event.