Kan De vise meg hvordan jeg bruker strykejernet, eller bør jeg stryke skjorten forsiktig selv?

De is the formal way to say you in Norwegian. It is much less common in modern everyday Norwegian than it used to be, but you may still see it in older texts, very polite situations, or when speaking to customers in a very formal tone.

• De = formal you
• du = normal informal you

So Kan De vise meg ... means Can you show me ... in a polite/formal style.

When De means the formal you, it is traditionally written with a capital D. This helps distinguish it from de, which normally means they or those.

So:

• De = formal you
• de = they

This capitalization is especially associated with formal written language.

Vise means to show, and meg means me.

So:

• vise = show
• meg = me
• vise meg = show me

In Norwegian, this works very much like English: Can you show me ...

Because this is an embedded clause, not a direct question.

Compare:

• Direct question: Hvordan bruker jeg strykejernet?
  = How do I use the iron?
• Embedded clause: Kan De vise meg hvordan jeg bruker strykejernet?
  = Can you show me how I use / how to use the iron?

In Norwegian embedded clauses, the word order is usually more like a statement:

• jeg bruker = I use

So after hvordan, you do not invert the verb and subject here.

Strykejernet is the definite form, meaning the iron.

• et strykejern = an iron
• strykejernet = the iron

Norwegian often adds definiteness as an ending on the noun. Since the sentence is talking about a specific iron, the definite form is used.

This is a common pattern in Norwegian:

• et hus = a house
• huset = the house

Bør means should / ought to. It expresses advice, recommendation, or what would be appropriate.

• kan = can (ability/possibility)
• bør = should / ought to

So in the sentence:

• Kan De vise meg ... = Can you show me ...
• eller bør jeg ... selv? = or should I ... myself?

The speaker is asking whether it would be better or more appropriate to do it on their own.

In this sentence, yes, stryke means to iron.

But stryke can have other meanings in Norwegian depending on context, such as to stroke or to cross out, and in some contexts even to fail. This is a useful reminder that many Norwegian verbs are context-dependent.

Here, because of strykejernet (the iron) and skjorten (the shirt), the meaning is clearly to iron.

Skjorten is the definite form, meaning the shirt.

• en skjorte = a shirt
• skjorten = the shirt

The sentence refers to a particular shirt, so the definite form is natural.

This matches the pattern:

• en bil = a car
• bilen = the car

Here forsiktig means carefully, so it functions adverbially, even though its form is the same as the adjective.

Examples:

• en forsiktig person = a careful/cautious person
  Here it is an adjective.
• stryke skjorten forsiktig = iron the shirt carefully
  Here it describes how the action is done.

This is common in Norwegian: the same form can sometimes be used both as an adjective and in an adverb-like way.

Selv means self or myself here. It adds emphasis that the speaker may do it personally, without help.

So:

• bør jeg stryke skjorten selv? = should I iron the shirt myself?

Without selv, the sentence would still make sense, but selv makes it clear that the speaker is contrasting being shown by someone else with doing it personally.

Yes, this is normal Norwegian word order for yes/no questions.

In Norwegian main-clause questions, the verb usually comes before the subject:

• Kan De ...? = Can you ...?
• Bør jeg ...? = Should I ...?

This is similar to English:

• Can you ...?
• Should I ...?

But inside the embedded clause, the order changes back to statement order:

• hvordan jeg bruker strykejernet

So the sentence shows two useful patterns:

1. Main question: verb before subject
2. Embedded clause: subject before verb

The comma separates two coordinated parts of the sentence:

• Kan De vise meg hvordan jeg bruker strykejernet
• eller bør jeg stryke skjorten forsiktig selv?

In Norwegian, commas are often used to make the structure clearer, especially in longer sentences. You should not worry too much if comma usage feels slightly different from English at first; punctuation conventions do not always match perfectly.

Yes. In modern everyday Norwegian, most people would use du instead of De.

A more natural everyday version would be:

Kan du vise meg hvordan jeg bruker strykejernet, eller bør jeg stryke skjorten forsiktig selv?

This means the same thing, just in a normal informal register.