Questions & Answers about Det var en fornøyelse.
What does each word in Det var en fornøyelse mean?
Word by word:
- Det = it / that
- var = was (past tense of å være, to be)
- en = a
- fornøyelse = pleasure
So the sentence literally means It was a pleasure, which matches natural English very closely.
Why does Norwegian use det here?
In this sentence, det works like it in English It was a pleasure.
It does not refer to a specific object. It is a general subject used in a fixed expression. English does exactly the same thing, so this part is actually very familiar for English speakers.
Examples of similar patterns in Norwegian:
- Det er fint. = It is nice.
- Det var hyggelig. = It was nice.
- Det blir bra. = It will be good.
So in Det var en fornøyelse, det is just the normal subject of the sentence.
Why is it var and not er?