Reiseforsikringen er gyldig.

The travel insurance is valid.

Breakdown of Reiseforsikringen er gyldig.

• være: to be
• gyldig: valid
• reiseforsikringen: the travel insurance

Questions & Answers about Reiseforsikringen er gyldig.

Why is reiseforsikringen written as one word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as one word.

So reiseforsikringen is built from:

• reise = travel
• forsikring = insurance
• -en = the definite ending

So the whole noun is literally travel-insurance-the.

A useful rule: in Norwegian compounds, the last part is the main noun. That means forsikring determines the basic meaning and grammar of the whole word.

What does -en at the end of reiseforsikringen mean?

-en is the definite article attached to the noun. In English, this is usually the.

Compare:

• en reiseforsikring = a travel insurance policy / a travel insurance
• reiseforsikringen = the travel insurance

So Norwegian often puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

Because that is how Norwegian normally marks definiteness with nouns: by adding an ending.

In a simple sentence like this, reiseforsikringen already includes the idea of the.

English:

• the travel insurance

Norwegian:

• reiseforsikringen

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English.