Hageparsellen er liten.

In Norwegian, compound nouns are normally written as one word. So hageparsellen is made up of:

• hage = garden
• parsell = plot, allotment, parcel

Together, they form hageparsell = garden plot. In the sentence, it appears as hageparsellen, where -en makes it definite: the garden plot.

The ending -en is the usual definite ending for many masculine nouns in Norwegian. It works like English the.

So:

• en hageparsell = a garden plot
• hageparsellen = the garden plot

Unlike English, Norwegian often puts definiteness at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

Because Norwegian usually expresses definiteness by adding an ending to the noun.

In this sentence:

• hageparsellen already means the garden plot

So you do not need a separate word like English the.

This is one of the big differences between English and Norwegian.

The form of the adjective depends on the noun it describes.

Here, hageparsellen is a singular masculine noun, so the adjective is:

• liten = small

Compare:

• en bil er liten = a car is small
• et hus er lite = a house is small
• biler er små = cars are small

You may also see lille, but that is usually used in definite noun phrases such as:

• den lille hagen = the small garden

In Hageparsellen er liten, the adjective comes after er, so liten is the correct form.

A good clue is the definite ending -en, which is commonly used with masculine nouns.

The base noun is typically:

• en hageparsell

So it is treated as a masculine noun, and that is why the adjective is liten.

That said, noun gender in Norwegian often has to be learned together with the noun, so it is best to memorize new nouns with their article:

• en hageparsell

Yes. Er is the present tense of the verb å være = to be.

So:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• han/hun er = he/she is
• hageparsellen er liten = the garden plot is small

Unlike English, Norwegian does not change the present-tense verb according to the subject. Er stays the same.

This is the normal basic word order for a simple statement in Norwegian:

• subject + verb + adjective/complement

So:

• Hageparsellen = subject
• er = verb
• liten = complement

This is very similar to English:

• The garden plot is small

So the sentence structure is quite straightforward.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker would be something like:

• HAH-guh-par-sel-len er LEE-ten

A few notes:

• hage starts with an h sound
• the g in hage is often softer than an English hard g
• r in Norwegian varies by dialect
• liten has two clear syllables: li-ten

Pronunciation differs across Norway, so exact sounds may vary a bit by dialect.

No. Små is the plural form meaning small for plural nouns, or it can be used in some other contexts, but not here.

Since hageparsellen is singular, you need the singular form:

• Hageparsellen er liten

Compare:

• Hageparsellen er liten = The garden plot is small
• Hageparsellene er små = The garden plots are small

The indefinite version would be:

• En hageparsell er liten.

That means A garden plot is small.

Compare:

• En hageparsell = a garden plot
• Hageparsellen = the garden plot

So the sentence changes depending on whether you mean a specific plot or the specific plot.

That is because this sentence uses a predicative adjective, not an adjective directly before the noun.

Compare these two patterns:

1. After the verb:

   • Hageparsellen er liten.
   • The adjective is predicative, so it stays liten.

2. Before the noun:

   • Den lille hageparsellen
   • Here the adjective is part of the noun phrase, so you use lille.

This difference is very important in Norwegian:

• Noun + er + adjective → usually liten/lite/små
• den/det/de + adjective + noun → often lille in this case