Familien møtes etter begravelsen.

Familien is the definite singular form of familie.

• en familie = a family
• familien = the family

Norwegian usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the in English.

So:

• Familien møtes ... = The family meets ...

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the noun as an ending.

For example:

• en begravelse = a funeral

• begravelsen = the funeral

• en familie = a family
• familien = the family

So in this sentence, both familien and begravelsen already include the meaning of the.

Møtes means meet, meet up, or gather, depending on context.

It comes from the verb å møte = to meet.

In this sentence, møtes suggests that the people in the family are meeting each other. So the idea is not just that someone meets one person, but that the family comes together.

The -s ending is important here. With møtes, it often gives a reciprocal meaning: the people involved are meeting one another.

Compare:

• Jeg møter ham. = I meet him.
• Vi møtes. = We meet / We meet each other.

So:

• Familien møtes = The family meets / The family gets together

This -s form can sometimes look like a passive form to English speakers, but here it is best understood as meeting each other.

Grammatically, familien is singular because familie is a singular noun.

But semantically, it refers to a group of people. English works similarly: the family is one unit, even though it contains several people.

Norwegian verbs do not change for singular and plural in the present tense, so there is no special plural verb form you need here.

Begravelsen means the funeral, while en begravelse means a funeral.

In this sentence, the funeral is understood to be a specific, known event, so Norwegian uses the definite form:

• etter begravelsen = after the funeral

If you said etter en begravelse, it would sound more general, like after a funeral rather than a particular one.

Etter means after.

It is a preposition, and here it introduces a time expression:

• etter begravelsen = after the funeral

Other examples:

• etter middagen = after dinner
• etter jobb = after work
• etter festen = after the party

So the sentence structure is:

• Familien = subject
• møtes = verb
• etter begravelsen = time phrase

Yes, potentially. Norwegian present tense often covers several meanings that English expresses in different ways.

Familien møtes etter begravelsen can mean:

• The family meets after the funeral
• The family is meeting after the funeral
• The family will meet after the funeral

Which one sounds best in English depends on context. Norwegian often uses the present tense for planned or expected future events.

They are similar, and in many contexts both can mean meet.

• Vi møtes = We meet / We meet each other
• Vi treffes = We meet / We see each other

However, møtes often feels a bit more directly like meeting up, while treffes can sometimes sound more like seeing each other or getting together. In many everyday situations, the difference is small.

For this sentence, Familien treffes etter begravelsen would also be possible, but møtes is very natural.

The sentence follows normal Norwegian main-clause word order:

• Familien = subject
• møtes = verb
• etter begravelsen = adverbial/time phrase

So it is:

Subject + verb + time expression

This is very similar to English:

• The family meets after the funeral.

If you moved the time phrase to the front, Norwegian would usually require inversion:

• Etter begravelsen møtes familien.

That is also correct, but the original sentence is the most straightforward order.

A learner often notices the letter ø here.

A rough guide:

• mø has a vowel sound that does not exist exactly in English
• tes sounds roughly like tess

So møtes is approximately MUR-tess or MEU-tess, but neither is perfect. The key challenge is the ø sound.

If you already know words like søster or øl, the same vowel appears there.