Avisen beskriver rettssaken.

the newspaper

Breakdown of Avisen beskriver rettssaken.

• beskrive: to describe
• rettssaken: the court case; lawsuit

Questions & Answers about Avisen beskriver rettssaken.

Why is there no separate word for the in this sentence?

In Norwegian, the is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of standing as a separate word.

So:

• avis = newspaper
• avisen = the newspaper

and

• rettssak = trial / court case
• rettssaken = the trial / the court case

This is one of the biggest differences from English. In a simple noun phrase, Norwegian often uses just the noun with a definite ending, not a separate word like the.

Why is it avisen and not avisa?

Because avis is a feminine noun in Bokmål, but Bokmål often allows two patterns for many feminine nouns:

• feminine form: avisa
• common/masculine-style form: avisen

Both can be correct in Bokmål. The sentence uses avisen, which is very common.

The same thing can happen with rettssak:

• rettssaka
• rettssaken

So this sentence is using a style that prefers -en rather than -a.

What form is beskriver?