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Questions & Answers about Grisen spiser.
Why is it grisen and not just gris?
Because grisen is the definite singular form of gris.
- gris = pig
- en gris = a pig
- grisen = the pig
So the ending -en works like English the here.
What is the basic dictionary form of grisen?
The dictionary form is gris.
If you look it up in a dictionary, you would usually find it as gris, often with the article en: en gris. That tells you the noun is used as a common-gender/masculine-type noun in Bokmål, and its definite singular form is grisen.
Why is there no separate word for the?
In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of standing as a separate word.
So:
- the pig → grisen
This is very different from English, where the is a separate word.
A useful comparison:
- en gris = a pig
- grisen = the pig
If there is an adjective, Norwegian often uses both a separate article and the noun ending:
- den store grisen = the big pig
What tense is spiser?