Questions & Answers about Prisen er ekstremt høy.
Why is prisen one word, and what does the -en mean?
In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun.
- pris = price
- prisen = the price
So -en is the definite ending for many masculine nouns in Bokmål. Instead of using a separate word like English the, Norwegian often adds the ending directly to the noun.
Why is it er here?
Er is the present tense of å være (to be).
So:
- jeg er = I am
- du er = you are
- prisen er = the price is
Norwegian does not change the present-tense form depending on the subject the way English does. It is just er for all persons.
Why is it ekstremt and not ekstrem?
Here, ekstremt is being used as an adverb, meaning extremely.
The base adjective is ekstrem = extreme, but when adjectives are used adverbially in Norwegian, they often take -t:
- ekstrem = extreme
- ekstremt = extremely
So in Prisen er ekstremt høy, ekstremt modifies høy, not prisen.
Why is it and not ?