Haugen er stor.

to be

Breakdown of Haugen er stor.

• stor: large
• haugen: the pile; heap

Questions & Answers about Haugen er stor.

Why is Haugen capitalized?

Because it is the first word in the sentence. In Norwegian, just like in English, the first word of a sentence is capitalized.

So here, Haugen does not necessarily mean it is a proper name. If the same word appeared later in the sentence as a common noun, it would normally be written haugen.

Example:

• Haugen er stor.
• Jeg ser haugen.

That said, Haugen can also be a surname or place name in other contexts, so context matters.

Why is it haugen and not haug?

Because haugen is the definite singular form of haug.

• haug = a hill / a mound / a heap depending on context
• haugen = the hill / the mound / the heap

In Norwegian, definiteness is often added as an ending on the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

A simple pattern is:

• en haug = a hill / a heap
• haugen = the hill / the heap

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

Why is there no separate word for the?