Chapter 8 of 16 · Explore the Norwegian path
How sentences work · Chapter 8 of 16
“The” is an ending, and “my” comes after the thing
Norwegian has no separate word for “the”. It is a syllable glued to the end of the naming word, so hus becomes huset. Owner words like “my” come after the thing, and the thing keeps that ending.
≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- Two words for “a”: en
en and et et — and each naming word keeps the one it has. - There is no separate word for “the”. It is stuck on the end of the noun.
- The ending matches the “a” word: en gutt
en guut → gutten GUUT-ten. - Norwegian puts “my” and “his” after the thing, and the thing keeps its “the” ending.
English says “a house”, “the house”. Norwegian says “a house”, house-the — “the” is a syllable glued to the end. No rule decides which noun takes which little word: store it glued on, the way Norwegian children do.
The two little words, and the ending each one turns into
Norwegian has no separate word for “the”. Read across each row to see the little word a naming word takes, then the ending it turns into.
| A … | … the |
|---|---|
| en gutt | gutten |
| en jente | jenten |
| et hus | huset |
en words take -en, et words take -et, whose t is silent. Most nouns are en words, so guess en when in doubt.
Say whose thing it is
An owner word is “my”, “your” or “his”. Norwegian usually puts it after the thing, so read to the end of the phrase.
Peel the ending, then place the owner
- skogen
Take off the last two letters.
Show answer +Hide answer −
skogenSKOO-gen “the forest” - How would a Norwegian ordinarily say “my tree”?
tre is an et word.
Show answer +Hide answer −
treet mittTRAY-uh mit “my tree” — the thing first, keeping its ending. - jenten og musen
Show answer +Hide answer −
jenten og musenYEN-ten aw MUU-sen “the girl and the mouse”