Lukten er sterk.

to be

Breakdown of Lukten er sterk.

• sterk: strong
• lukten: the smell

Questions & Answers about Lukten er sterk.

Why is it lukten and not just lukt?

Because Norwegian usually puts the definite article on the end of the noun.

• lukt = smell
• lukten = the smell

So Lukten er sterk literally follows the pattern The-smell is strong.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

In Norwegian, the definite article is often a suffix rather than a separate word.

So instead of English the smell, Norwegian commonly says lukten. This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice.

Compare:

• en lukt = a smell
• lukten = the smell

What kind of noun is lukt?

Here, lukt behaves like an en-word in Bokmål.

That means:

• en lukt = a smell
• lukten = the smell

For a learner, the safest form to remember is en lukt / lukten.

What does er mean?