Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Boliglånet er stort.

Breakdown of Boliglånet er stort.

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Why is boliglånet written as one word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

This is very common in Norwegian. Where English often uses two words, Norwegian often combines them into one.

Why is there no separate word for the?

In Norwegian, the is often built into the end of the noun.

Here:

The ending -et marks the noun as definite singular because lån is a neuter noun.

So instead of a separate word like English the, Norwegian often adds a definite ending to the noun itself.

What is the base form of boliglånet?

The base form is et boliglån.

Breaking it down:

Then the definite singular form becomes:

The main noun in the compound is lån, and that noun determines the gender of the whole compound.

Why is it stort and not stor?