Byen ble berømt.

The city became famous.

Breakdown of Byen ble berømt.

• bli: to become
• byen: the city
• berømt: famous

Questions & Answers about Byen ble berømt.

Why does byen end in -en?

Because -en is the definite article attached to the noun.

• by = city / town
• byen = the city / the town

This is very common in Norwegian: instead of a separate word like English the, Norwegian often adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

Examples:

• en by = a city
• byen = the city

So byen is not just city; it specifically means the city.

What tense is ble?

Ble is the past tense of bli, which usually means become.

So grammatically:

• bli = to become
• ble = became

In this sentence, ble shows that something happened in the past.

Related forms:

• blir = becomes / is becoming
• ble = became
• har blitt = has become

Why is ble used instead of var?