Hver gang det regner, setter vi tørkestativet i stuen, og klesvasken tørker sakte der.

Hver gang means every time or whenever. It introduces a repeated situation:

• Hver gang det regner = Whenever it rains

This whole part is a subordinate clause, setting the time or condition for what happens next.

A learner might also notice that Norwegian often uses hver gang where English might use either every time or whenever.

In Norwegian, weather expressions often use det as a dummy subject:

• det regner = it rains
• det snør = it snows

This works just like English it in it is raining. The det does not refer to a specific thing; it is just required by the grammar.

This is one of the most important Norwegian word-order rules.

Norwegian is a V2 language, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in a main clause.

Here, the sentence begins with the subordinate clause:

• Hver gang det regner,

After that, the main clause starts. Because the first position is already taken by the introductory clause, the verb must come next:

• setter vi tørkestativet i stuen

So the order becomes:

1. introductory element: Hver gang det regner
2. finite verb: setter
3. subject: vi

Compare:

• Vi setter tørkestativet i stuen.
• Hver gang det regner, setter vi tørkestativet i stuen.

That verb-before-subject order is completely normal here.

Setter is the present tense of å sette, which often means to put, to place, or to set.

In this sentence:

• setter vi tørkestativet i stuen
  = we put / set the drying rack in the living room

Depending on context, English might say:

• put
• set up
• place

So å sette is a very common Norwegian verb with a broad range of meanings, much like English put or set.

The ending -et makes the noun definite:

• et tørkestativ = a drying rack
• tørkestativet = the drying rack

So the sentence is talking about a specific drying rack, not just any drying rack.

Also, tørkestativ is a compound noun:

• tørke = dry
• stativ = rack / stand

Together, tørkestativ means drying rack.

I stuen means in the living room.

A few useful things are happening here:

• i = in
• stue = living room
• stuen = the living room

So:

• i stuen = in the living room

This is the natural preposition because the drying rack is being placed inside the room.

You may also see i stua in more informal speech or in dialect-friendly writing. Both mean the same thing.

Klesvasken means the laundry.

It is another compound noun:

• klær / kles- = clothes
• vask = washing / wash

So klesvask is basically clothes-washing / laundry, and:

• klesvasken = the laundry

In everyday Norwegian, this word refers to the clothes that have been washed and now need drying, folding, etc.

Tørker is the present tense of å tørke.

This verb can be used both:

• transitively: to dry something
• intransitively: to become dry / dry

In this sentence it is intransitive:

• klesvasken tørker = the laundry dries / is drying

So the laundry is not drying something else; it is itself becoming dry.

Compare:

• Jeg tørker klærne. = I dry the clothes.
• Klærne tørker. = The clothes are drying.

In the second main clause, the basic order is:

• klesvasken = subject
• tørker = verb
• sakte = adverb
• der = place adverb

So:

• klesvasken tørker sakte der

This is a very natural order in Norwegian. The adverb sakte describes how the laundry dries, and der tells where.

English often does something similar:

• the laundry dries slowly there

Norwegian word order can vary a little for emphasis, but this version is straightforward and standard.

Der means there. It refers back to the place just mentioned:

• i stuen = in the living room
• der = there

So:

• klesvasken tørker sakte der
  = the laundry dries slowly there

It is not strictly necessary. The sentence could still make sense without it:

• ... og klesvasken tørker sakte.

But der helps connect the second clause clearly to the living room, and it sounds very natural.

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

• Hver gang det regner,
• setter vi tørkestativet i stuen

This is standard punctuation in Norwegian.

There is also a comma before og here because og joins two full main clauses:

1. setter vi tørkestativet i stuen
2. klesvasken tørker sakte der

So the commas help show the structure of the sentence.

Yes. Norwegian often uses the present tense for things that happen regularly or habitually.

So:

• det regner = it rains / it is raining
• setter vi = we put
• tørker = dries

Even though the sentence describes something repeated, the present tense is the normal choice:

• Hver gang det regner, setter vi ...
  = Whenever it rains, we put ...

This is very similar to English, which also uses the present tense in habitual statements like Whenever it rains, we...

Yes, often you could.

• Når det regner = when it rains
• Hver gang det regner = every time it rains / whenever it rains

The difference is mainly one of emphasis:

• Når det regner is more neutral.
• Hver gang det regner strongly emphasizes repetition: every single time.

So in this sentence, hver gang highlights the routine very clearly.