Er du villig til å hjelpe?

Are you willing to help?

Breakdown of Er du villig til å hjelpe?

• være: to be
• du: you
• å: to
• hjelpe: to help

Questions & Answers about Er du villig til å hjelpe?

Why does the sentence start with Er instead of Du er?

Because this is a yes/no question in Norwegian. In main clauses, Norwegian normally uses verb-first word order for yes/no questions:

• Statement: Du er villig til å hjelpe. — You are willing to help.
• Question: Er du villig til å hjelpe? — Are you willing to help?

So er moves in front of du, much like English are you.

What does er mean here?

Er is the present tense of å være (to be).
So here it means are.

Examples:

• Jeg er — I am
• Du er — you are
• Han er — he is

In this sentence, Er du ...? means Are you ...?

What kind of word is villig, and why is it used here?