Nebensätze mit „at“

Subordinate clauses with "at"

At is the Norwegian "that" which introduces what someone thinks, says, knows or hopes. It joins a main clause to a subordinate clause, as in English:

Main clause	at	Subordinate clause	English
Jeg tror	at	det blir sol i morgen.	I think (that) it will be sunny tomorrow.
Han sier	at	han er trøtt.	He says (that) he is tired.
Vi vet	at	hun kommer.	We know (that) she is coming.
Jeg håper	at	du liker brunost.	I hope (that) you like brown cheese.

Leaving "at" out

Just as English often drops "that", spoken Norwegian often drops at after common verbs like tro, si, vite and håpe: Jeg tror det er sant - I think it's true. Both versions are correct. Keep at when the clause comes first or when the sentence is long and formal.

Word order inside the clause

After at the subject comes first and then the verb, as in English: at han er trøtt. There is no V2 inversion here, even if you start with a time word: Han sier at han i dag er trøtt sounds stiff, but Han sier at han er trøtt i dag is natural.

The one thing that moves is a sentence adverb such as ikke (not), alltid (always) or ofte (often). In a main clause it follows the verb, but in an at clause it comes before it:

Main clause	Inside an at-clause
Han snakker ikke norsk.	Jeg vet at han ikke snakker norsk.
Hun kommer alltid for sent.	Alle vet at hun alltid kommer for sent.

English speakers, used to "he doesn't speak", tend to keep the main-clause order (*at han snakker ikke norsk). Norwegians will understand you, but this is the error a teacher circles first.