Ideen er glimrende.

to be

Breakdown of Ideen er glimrende.

• ideen: the idea
• glimrende: excellent

Questions & Answers about Ideen er glimrende.

Why is it ideen and not just idé?

Because ideen is the definite singular form: the idea.

• idé = idea
• ideen = the idea

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun rather than written as a separate word.

So:

• en idé = an idea
• ideen = the idea

Why does ideen end in -en?

The ending -en is the usual definite ending for many singular nouns in Bokmål.

Here, the noun is idé, and when it becomes definite, it takes the ending -en:

• idé → ideen

This is very common in Norwegian:

• en bil → bilen
• en stol → stolen
• en idé → ideen

Why is there no separate word for the?

Because Norwegian usually puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate article before it.

English:

• the idea

Norwegian:

• ideen

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English. In a simple sentence like this, ideen already includes the meaning of the idea.