Hun liker å hakke grønnsakene selv og krydre maten før barna kommer hjem.

Because both hakke and krydre are infinitives connected by og. In Norwegian, when two infinitives share the same å, it is very common to use å only once:

• Hun liker å hakke grønnsakene selv og krydre maten ...

This works like English to chop ... and season ....

You can sometimes repeat å for extra balance or emphasis, but it is usually unnecessary here.

Liker å + infinitive is a very common pattern meaning likes to + verb.

So:

• Hun liker å hakke = She likes to chop
• Hun liker å krydre = She likes to season

This is the normal way to say that someone enjoys doing an action. Norwegian does not usually say this with something directly equivalent to English likes chopping in the same way.

Grønnsakene is the definite plural form: the vegetables.

• en grønnsak = a vegetable
• grønnsaker = vegetables
• grønnsakene = the vegetables

Norwegian often uses the definite form where English might also use the, especially when the speaker has specific vegetables in mind, such as the vegetables for the meal she is preparing.

Maten is the definite singular form: the food.

• mat = food
• maten = the food

Here it refers to a specific meal or the food she is preparing. Norwegian frequently uses the definite form in situations where English would also naturally say the food.

Here selv means something like herself or personally.

So hakke grønnsakene selv suggests that she does it herself, rather than having someone else do it.

It adds emphasis to the subject:

• Hun hakker grønnsakene selv = She chops the vegetables herself.

It does not mean alone here. For alone, Norwegian often uses alene.

That position is natural because selv is emphasizing the subject hun, not the noun grønnsakene.

So:

• hakke grønnsakene selv

means chop the vegetables herself.

If you moved selv, the sentence could sound different in emphasis or less natural. In this sentence, placing selv after the object is the most idiomatic choice.

Because før introduces a subordinate clause, and in subordinate clauses Norwegian does not use the main-clause word order with inversion.

So the normal order is:

• før barna kommer hjem
• before the children come home

Subject first, then verb:

• barna = subject
• kommer = verb

In a main clause, Norwegian often puts the verb in second position, but after før, you get subordinate-clause structure.

This is very normal in Norwegian. The present tense is often used for future events when the context already makes the time clear.

So:

• før barna kommer hjem

means before the children come home, even though the coming home happens later.

English does something similar in time clauses:

• before the children come home not usually before the children will come home

So this is a good example of a structure that matches English quite closely.

Hjem means home, but in this kind of sentence it functions more like an adverb of direction: homeward / to home.

• komme hjem = come home
• dra hjem = go home / leave for home

Notice that Norwegian usually does not need a preposition here. English says come home, not come to home, and Norwegian works similarly.

Because komme hjem means come home / arrive home, while gå hjem means go home.

The choice depends on perspective and meaning:

• barna kommer hjem = the children come home / arrive home
• barna går hjem = the children go home

In this sentence, the important idea is the children’s arrival at home, since she is preparing food before that happens.

Primarily, og connects the two infinitive phrases:

• å hakke grønnsakene selv
• (å) krydre maten

So the sentence says that she likes to do two things:

1. chop the vegetables herself
2. season the food

Both actions are part of what she likes to do before the children come home.

Yes, it could be possible:

• Hun liker å hakke grønnsakene selv og å krydre maten ...

But that is less natural in everyday Norwegian here. Usually, once å has already introduced the infinitive phrase, it is omitted before the second coordinated infinitive.

So the original version is the most natural one.

Barna means the children and is the definite plural form of barn.

• et barn = a child
• barn = children / child(ren) in some contexts
• barna = the children

The definite form is used because the speaker likely means specific children already known from context, such as her children or the children in the household.

Yes, hakke is a very natural verb for chop, especially for food preparation.

Related words include:

• kutte = cut
• skjære = cut / slice
• hakke = chop, mince

So hakke grønnsakene suggests chopping them into smaller pieces, which fits cooking very well.

No, not naturally in this sentence. Selv here clearly refers to hun.

So it means:

• She herself chops the vegetables

not something like:

• the vegetables themselves

If Norwegian wanted to emphasize the noun instead, the structure would normally be different. In this sentence, the intended reading is clearly that she does it personally.