Lukkertiden er kort.

to be

Breakdown of Lukkertiden er kort.

• kort: short
• lukkertiden: the shutter speed

Questions & Answers about Lukkertiden er kort.

Why is lukkertiden written as one word?

Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as a single word.

Here, lukkertid is one compound noun, and then -en is added to make it definite:

• lukkertid = closing time
• lukkertiden = the closing time

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

Why does lukkertiden end in -en?

The -en is the definite article attached to the noun. In Norwegian, the is often added to the end of the noun instead of appearing as a separate word in front.

So:

• en lukkertid = a closing time
• lukkertiden = the closing time

This is one of the biggest differences from English noun structure.

Is there an indefinite form of lukkertiden?

Yes. The indefinite singular form is en lukkertid.

So the sentence could theoretically be changed like this:

• En lukkertid er kort.

But that would sound less natural in many contexts, because lukkertiden usually refers to a specific, known closing time.

Why is there no separate word for the before the noun?