Strømavtalen er ny.

The electricity contract is new.

Breakdown of Strømavtalen er ny.

• være: to be
• ny: new
• strømavtalen: the electricity contract

Questions & Answers about Strømavtalen er ny.

Why is strømavtalen written as one word?

Because Norwegian often makes compound nouns by joining words together. Here, strøm means electricity/power and avtale means agreement/contract, so strømavtale means electricity contract or power agreement.

This is very common in Norwegian. Where English often uses two words, Norwegian frequently uses one:

• strømavtale = electricity contract
• bokhylle = bookshelf
• sommerferie = summer holiday

When the noun is definite, the definite ending is added to the whole compound:

• en strømavtale = an electricity contract
• strømavtalen = the electricity contract

What does the ending -en in strømavtalen mean?

The ending -en is the definite article for many masculine nouns in Norwegian. Instead of putting a separate word like the in front, Norwegian often adds the definiteness to the end of the noun.

So:

• en strømavtale = an electricity contract
• strømavtalen = the electricity contract

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Norwegian usually marks the by adding an ending:

• bilen = the car
• hunden = the dog
• avtalen = the agreement

Why is there no separate word for the?