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Saying 'the', It's a Suffix!
Norwegian doesn't put a word before the noun for 'the'. It sticks an ending ON it.
If you remember nothing else
- •'the' is attached to the END of the noun, based on gender.
- •en → -en (bilen), ei → -a (jenta), et → -et (huset).
- •So 'bil' = a car-ish concept, 'en bil' = a car, 'bilen' = the car.
The big shift
In English 'the' is a separate little word. In Norwegian the definite article is glued onto the end of the noun. This feels strange at first but becomes automatic fast.
en bil → bilen
a car → the car
ei jente → jenta
a girl → the girl
et hus → huset
a house → the house
The endings by gender
Masculine adds -en. Feminine adds -a. Neuter adds -et (the 't' is silent: 'huset' sounds like 'huse'). If the word already ends in -e, you just add -n / -a / -t.
gutt → gutten
boy → the boy (en)
avis → avisa / avisen
newspaper → the newspaper (ei/en)
eple → eplet
apple → the apple (et)
Watch the silent t
Neuter definite -et is pronounced as if the 't' isn't there. 'huset' = HOO-se, 'eplet' = EP-le. Same with the word 'det' (it/that) = 'de'.
huset
the house, say 'HOO-se'
det er fint
it is nice, 'de' er fint
Quick check
3 questions. Get them right to lock in the lesson.