Vi hørte alarmen.

we

Breakdown of Vi hørte alarmen.

• høre: to hear
• alarmen: the alarm

Questions & Answers about Vi hørte alarmen.

Why is there no separate word for the in alarmen?

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

• alarm = alarm
• alarmen = the alarm

So alarmen already includes the meaning of the alarm. This is very common in Norwegian:

• bok = book
• boken / boka = the book

In this sentence, alarmen is the definite singular form.

What does each word do in the sentence?

Here is the sentence broken down:

• Vi = we
• hørte = heard
• alarmen = the alarm

So the structure is:

• Vi = subject
• hørte = verb
• alarmen = object

This is a very normal Norwegian sentence pattern: subject + verb + object.

What tense is hørte?

Hørte is the past tense of å høre.

• å høre = to hear
• hører = hear / am hearing / are hearing in the present
• hørte = heard in the past

So:

• Vi hører alarmen = We hear the alarm
• Vi hørte alarmen = We heard the alarm