Nå som oppvasken er tatt, kan vi slappe av.

Nå som means something like now that in English.

It introduces a clause that gives the background for what follows:

• Nå som oppvasken er tatt, kan vi slappe av.
• Now that the dishes are done, we can relax.

It is a very common way to connect a completed situation with its consequence.

Oppvasken is the definite form, so it means the dishes / the washing-up.

In Norwegian, you often use the definite form when talking about a specific, understood task or thing:

• oppvask = dishwashing, dishes, washing-up in general
• oppvasken = the dishes / the washing-up we are talking about

Here it refers to the specific dishes that needed to be done.

Oppvask usually means the washing-up, the dishes, or doing the dishes, depending on context.

So in this sentence, oppvasken is not just the plates themselves in a narrow sense. It refers more broadly to the dishwashing task.

That is why the whole sentence sounds natural as Now that the dishes are done...

Yes, tatt is the past participle of ta, which usually means take. But in Norwegian, ta oppvasken is an idiomatic expression meaning do the dishes.

So:

• ta oppvasken = do the dishes
• oppvasken er tatt = the dishes have been done / the washing-up is done

This is one of those cases where the literal meaning of the verb is not the best guide. You need to learn the whole expression.

This is a very useful distinction.

• Vi har tatt oppvasken = We have done the dishes

  • active
  • focuses on what we did

• Oppvasken er tatt = The dishes are done

  • passive or result-focused
  • focuses on the state/result, not on who did it

In your sentence, the important thing is that the task is finished, so Norwegian uses oppvasken er tatt very naturally.

Yes, it can be understood as a passive-like or resultative construction.

It emphasizes that the action has been completed and that the result now holds:

• Oppvasken er tatt = the dishes are done

This is often more natural in Norwegian than using a heavier passive like:

• Oppvasken har blitt tatt

That version is grammatical, but it sounds more formal or more focused on the event itself. Er tatt is simpler and more idiomatic here.

This is because Norwegian main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb comes in the second position.

The sentence starts with the subordinate clause:

• Nå som oppvasken er tatt

After that, the main clause begins, and the finite verb must come right after the fronted element:

• kan vi slappe av

So the structure is:

• introductory clause
• finite verb
• subject
• rest of sentence

That is why kan vi is correct here, not vi kan.

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

• Nå som oppvasken er tatt, kan vi slappe av.

This helps show the structure clearly:

• subordinate clause: Nå som oppvasken er tatt
• main clause: kan vi slappe av

In written Norwegian, this comma is standard here.

Slappe av means relax.

It is a verb plus a particle:

• slappe av = relax

Many Norwegian verbs work this way. In some sentence patterns, the particle stays attached, and in others it can move:

• Vi kan slappe av.
• Nå slapper vi av.

So it is best to learn slappe av as a complete expression.

Yes, definitely. Nå som oppvasken er gjort is also very natural.

Both are common:

• oppvasken er tatt
• oppvasken er gjort

A slight difference:

• gjort comes from gjøre and directly suggests done
• tatt comes from the idiom ta oppvasken

In everyday Norwegian, both sound fine.

Sometimes, but not always with exactly the same feel.

• nå som = now that

  • very natural when a present situation has become true

• siden = since

  • can also work, but may sound a bit more neutral or explanatory

• etter at = after

  • focuses more on sequence in time

So:

• Nå som oppvasken er tatt, kan vi slappe av. = Now that the dishes are done, we can relax.

• Etter at oppvasken er tatt, kan vi slappe av. = After the dishes are done, we can relax.

That last one is possible, but it sounds a bit more like a schedule or sequence than a natural consequence.

It is neutral and very natural everyday Norwegian.

Nothing in it is especially formal, slangy, or old-fashioned. It would fit well in normal conversation at home:

• Nå som oppvasken er tatt, kan vi slappe av.

It sounds like something a native speaker could easily say after finishing chores.