Det er bare å sette salgsbordet ved salgsboden.

to be

Breakdown of Det er bare å sette salgsbordet ved salgsboden.

• å: to
• det: it
• ved: by

Questions & Answers about Det er bare å sette salgsbordet ved salgsboden.

What does Det er bare å ... mean in this sentence?

Det er bare å ... is a very common Norwegian expression. It means something like:

• you just have to ...
• all you need to do is ...
• just go ahead and ...

So Det er bare å sette salgsbordet ved salgsboden does not literally mean It is only to put... in natural English. It is an idiomatic way of giving a simple instruction or saying that the action is straightforward.

Why does the sentence start with Det er? There does not seem to be any real it in English.

In Norwegian, det is often used as a dummy subject, just like English sometimes uses it in expressions such as:

• It is easy to...
• It is important to...

In Det er bare å ..., det does not refer to a specific thing. It is just part of the fixed expression.

So here, det er is not pointing to an object. It is simply the normal structure Norwegian uses.

Why is there å sette instead of a finite verb like setter or an imperative like sett?