Vi lukter gassen.

We smell the gas.

Breakdown of Vi lukter gassen.

• vi: we
• lukte: to smell
• gassen: the gas (not gasoline)

Questions & Answers about Vi lukter gassen.

Why is vi used here?

Vi means we. It is the subject of the sentence — the people doing the action of smelling.

So the structure is:

• Vi = we
• lukter = smell
• gassen = the gas

This is a very normal subject-verb-object sentence in Norwegian.

Why is the verb lukter and not lukte?

Lukte is the infinitive, meaning to smell.

Lukter is the present tense, meaning smell / are smelling.

So:

• å lukte = to smell
• lukter = smell / am smelling / is smelling / are smelling

Norwegian verbs do not change for person the way English verbs sometimes do. That means:

• jeg lukter = I smell
• du lukter = you smell
• vi lukter = we smell

The verb form stays the same.

Does lukter mean smell as in sensing something, or smell as in giving off a smell?