Boken er hellig.

to be

Breakdown of Boken er hellig.

• boken: the book
• hellig: holy; sacred

Questions & Answers about Boken er hellig.

Why is it boken and not just bok?

Because boken is the definite singular form: the book.

• bok = book
• boken = the book

In Norwegian, you often add the definiteness directly to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

Why is there no separate word for the?

Norwegian usually puts the definite article onto the noun as an ending.

So instead of:

• English: the book

you get:

• Norwegian: boken

This is very common in Norwegian:

• bil = car → bilen = the car
• hund = dog → hunden = the dog

Could I also say boka er hellig?

Yes. In Bokmål, bok is a feminine noun, and many feminine nouns can appear in two acceptable definite forms:

• boka
• boken

So both are possible:

• Boka er hellig.
• Boken er hellig.

Very roughly:

• boka sounds a bit more clearly feminine
• boken uses the common/masculine-style ending and is also standard Bokmål

Both are correct.

What does mean here?