Latteren er høy.

to be

Breakdown of Latteren er høy.

• høy: loud
• latteren: the laughter

Questions & Answers about Latteren er høy.

Why is there no separate word for the in latteren?

Because Norwegian often marks definiteness at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

• latter = laughter
• latteren = the laughter

So -en is doing the job that the does in English.

Why is it latteren and not latteret?

Because latter is a common gender noun in Norwegian, not a neuter noun.

Its basic forms are:

• en latter = a laugh / a laughter
• latteren = the laugh / the laughter

If it were a neuter noun, the definite ending would usually be -et, but that is not the case here.

Why is the adjective høy and not høyt?

Because latteren is a singular common gender noun, and when an adjective comes after er, it agrees with the noun.

So:

• common gender singular: høy
• neuter singular: høyt
• plural: høye

That is why you get:

• Latteren er høy.

If the noun were neuter, you would expect høyt instead.

Why is it høy here when English would usually say loud, not high?