Køya er liten.

Køya is the definite singular form of køye, a noun that can mean bunk, bunk bed, or sometimes berth/cot, depending on context.

The ending -a shows that the noun is definite, so køya means the bunk / the bunk bed.

This happens because Norwegian often puts definiteness on the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

• køye = a bunk
• køya = the bunk

Because Norwegian usually builds the into the noun itself.

So instead of saying something like the køye, Norwegian says køya.

This is very common in Norwegian:

• en bil = a car

• bilen = the car

• ei bok = a book
• boka = the book

So in Køya er liten, the noun already includes the idea of the.

Because liten is the form used for a singular non-neuter noun here.

Very roughly:

• liten = singular common/feminine/masculine
• lite = singular neuter
• små = plural
• lille = definite/with certain modifiers in front of the noun

Since køya is not neuter, lite would be wrong here.

Compare:

• Huset er lite. = The house is small.
  (hus is neuter)

• Køya er liten. = The bunk is small.

Because lille is usually used when the adjective comes before a definite noun, not after er.

So:

• den lille køya = the small bunk
• køya er liten = the bunk is small

This is the difference between:

• attributive adjective: before the noun
• predicative adjective: after a verb like er

In this sentence, liten is predicative, so lille is not the normal choice.

Yes, you may hear or see lita, especially in dialects or in more feminine-friendly usage.

For a learner, Køya er liten is a safe and standard Bokmål form to recognize and use.

Very generally:

• liten is the broad, standard form learners will meet a lot
• lita can appear with feminine nouns in some varieties and styles

So if you come across Køya er lita, it is not a different meaning. It is just a different form.

It follows the basic Norwegian pattern:

subject + verb + adjective

So:

• Køya = subject
• er = verb
• liten = adjective

This is very similar to English:

• The bunk is small.

So the sentence structure is straightforward for English speakers.

Er means is / are / am, depending on context. It is the present tense of å være = to be.

In this sentence, it links the subject to the description:

• Køya = the bunk
• er liten = is small

Yes, Norwegian normally needs er here, just like English needs is. You would not normally leave it out.

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation is:

KØY-a

A few tips:

• ø has no exact English equivalent
• the øy part is a diphthong, so it glides as one vowel sound
• the final -a is a clear ah sound

A useful approximation is to think of something a bit like koy-ah, but with a more rounded first vowel than normal English oy.

The exact sound depends on accent, but the important thing is to notice that ø is not the same as English o.

In Bokmål, many nouns that are feminine can also be treated as masculine.

So alongside ei køye / køya, you may also see:

• en køye
• køyen

That means these are both possible in Bokmål:

• Køya er liten.
• Køyen er liten.

They mean the same thing. The difference is grammatical style, not meaning.

Then the adjective goes before the noun.

Possible Bokmål forms include:

• ei lita køye
• ei liten køye
• en liten køye

Which one you use depends on whether you are treating the noun as feminine or masculine, and on the style of Bokmål.

A very useful contrast is:

• ei lita køye = a small bunk
• køya er liten = the bunk is small
• den lille køya = the small bunk

So the adjective changes form depending on how it is used.