Bordduken er ren.

The tablecloth is clean.

Breakdown of Bordduken er ren.

• være: to be
• ren: clean
• bordduken: the tablecloth

Questions & Answers about Bordduken er ren.

Why is it bordduken and not just bordduk?

Because bordduken is the definite singular form: the tablecloth.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front.

• en bordduk = a tablecloth
• bordduken = the tablecloth

So the sentence uses bordduken because it is talking about a specific tablecloth.

Why is bordduk written as one word?

Norwegian often makes compound nouns by joining words together.

Here:

• bord = table
• duk = cloth

So bordduk literally means table-cloth, written as one word. This is very normal in Norwegian.

What gender is bordduk?

Bordduk is normally a masculine/common-gender noun in Bokmål.

That gives you:

• en bordduk = a tablecloth
• bordduken = the tablecloth

For a learner, the important thing is to memorize it with its article: en bordduk.

Why is the verb er used here?