Klatregrepet er grønt.

The climbing hold is green.

Breakdown of Klatregrepet er grønt.

• være: to be
• grønn: green
• klatregrepet: the climbing hold

Questions & Answers about Klatregrepet er grønt.

Why is klatregrepet written as one word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

Here, klatregrepet comes from:

• klatre = climb
• grep = grip, hold

So the basic noun is klatregrep = climbing hold.

This is very common in Norwegian. Where English often uses two words, Norwegian often uses one compound word.

Where is the word for the?

It is built into the end of the noun.

The base form is:

• et klatregrep = a climbing hold

The definite form is:

• klatregrepet = the climbing hold

The ending -et is the neuter singular definite ending. So Norwegian often expresses the by adding an ending to the noun instead of using a separate word.

What is the gender of klatregrep, and how do we know?

Klatregrep is a neuter noun, so its indefinite form is et klatregrep.

We know this because in Norwegian compounds, the last part usually decides the gender and inflection. The last part here is grep, and grep is neuter:

• et grep
• grepet

So the compound follows the same pattern:

• et klatregrep
• klatregrepet

Why is the adjective and not ?