Personen var grusom.

The person was cruel.

Breakdown of Personen var grusom.

• være: to be
• personen: the person
• grusom: cruel; awful

Questions & Answers about Personen var grusom.

Why is it personen and not person?

Because personen is the definite singular form of person.

In Norwegian, nouns usually add the definite article to the end of the word:

• en person = a person
• personen = the person

So Personen var grusom means The person was cruel/awful, not A person was cruel/awful.

Why is there no separate word for the before personen?

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

So where English says:

• the person

Norwegian says:

• personen

This is very normal in Norwegian. The ending -en is doing the job of the here.

What form of verb is var?