Vannkannen er full.

to be

Breakdown of Vannkannen er full.

• full: full
• vannkannen: the watering can

Questions & Answers about Vannkannen er full.

What does vannkannen break down into?

It is a compound noun:

• vann = water
• kanne = can / jug / watering can
• vannkanne = watering can
• vannkannen = the watering can

The last part of the compound, kanne, decides the gender and how the word is inflected.

Why is vannkannen written as one word?

Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• vannkanne = watering can
• not vann kanne

This is very common in Norwegian, much more so than in English.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

In Norwegian, the is often built into the noun as an ending.

Here:

• vannkanne = a watering can
• vannkannen = the watering can

So the definiteness is shown by the ending on the noun, not by a separate word before it.

Why does kanne become kannen?