Utslagsrunden er vanskelig uten ledetråden.

to be

Breakdown of Utslagsrunden er vanskelig uten ledetråden.

• uten: without
• vanskelig: difficult
• ledetråden: the clue

Questions & Answers about Utslagsrunden er vanskelig uten ledetråden.

Why do utslagsrunden and ledetråden end in -en?

Because Norwegian often puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• en utslagsrunde = a knockout round
• utslagsrunden = the knockout round

And:

• en ledetråd = a clue
• ledetråden = the clue

So the ending -en here is doing the job of English the.

Why is utslagsrunden written as one word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• utslag
  • runde → utslagsrunde
• utslagsrunde
  • -n / -en definite ending → utslagsrunden

This is very normal in Norwegian. English often separates these ideas into two words, but Norwegian usually combines them:

• fotballkamp = football match
• skolebok = school book
• utslagsrunde = knockout round / elimination round

If you split compound nouns in Norwegian, it can look unnatural or even change the meaning.

What is the -s- doing in utslagsrunde?