Mission—Team—FAQ—Privacy—Terms—Sponsors—Grammar—Typing Course—Donate

© 2026 Elon Automation B.V.

Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Gjeldsgraden er høy. - The debt-to-income ratio is high.

Hardcore Norwegian
/Comparing mortgage offers
/Gjeldsgraden er høy.

Gjeldsgraden er høy.

Word

Gjeldsgraden er høy.

Meaning

The debt-to-income ratio is high.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Norwegian

Lesson

Comparing mortgage offers

Breakdown of Gjeldsgraden er høy.

the debt-to-income ratio

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Norwegian grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Norwegian now

Questions & Answers about Gjeldsgraden er høy.

Why does gjeldsgraden end in -en?

Because -en marks the definite singular form of a common-gender noun in Norwegian.

en gjeldsgrad = a debt ratio / an indebtedness ratio
gjeldsgraden = the debt ratio

So the sentence is talking about a specific debt ratio, not just any debt ratio.

What parts make up the word gjeldsgraden?

It is a compound noun:

gjeld = debt
grad = degree, level, rate
-en = the definite ending

So:

gjeldsgrad = debt ratio / degree of indebtedness
gjeldsgraden = the debt ratio

The -s- in the middle is a linking sound used in many Norwegian compounds.

Why is there an -s- in gjeldsgrad?

That -s- is a linking s. It often appears in compound nouns and does not usually have a separate meaning by itself.

So:

gjeld
- grad becomes gjeldsgrad

You cannot always predict perfectly when Norwegian will use a linking -s-, so this is something learners often just have to get used to word by word.

Why is the verb er used here?

Er is the present tense of å være = to be.

So:

er = is / are

In this sentence:

Gjeldsgraden er høy = The debt ratio is high

This is the normal way to make a simple statement with to be in Norwegian.

Why is it høy and not høyt or høye?

Because høy is the correct adjective form for a singular common-gender noun when the adjective comes after er.

Compare:

En gjeldsgrad er høy
Et nivå er høyt
Tallene er høye

So the pattern is:

common gender singular: høy
neuter singular: høyt
plural/definite plural: høye

Since gjeldsgrad is a common-gender noun, høy is right.

Is gjeldsgrad a masculine noun?

In modern Norwegian grammar, it is usually better to say it is a common-gender noun rather than a masculine noun.

You would use:

en gjeldsgrad
gjeldsgraden

Many learners are taught masculine, feminine, neuter, but in Bokmål, a lot of nouns behave as common gender nouns in practice. For this word, just remember the pattern en ... / ...en.

Is høy the normal word here? Why not tall?

Yes, høy is the normal word here.

In Norwegian, høy is used not only for physical height, but also for things like:

prices
levels
rates
percentages
risk
debt

So:

høy pris = high price
høy rente = high interest rate
høy gjeldsgrad = high debt ratio

Tall usually describes a person or object that has physical height:

Han er tall = He is tall

So gjeldsgraden er tall would be wrong.

Can I say Gjeldsgrad er høy without -en?

Not in normal standard usage for this kind of sentence.

Gjeldsgraden er høy sounds natural because it refers to a specific debt ratio: the debt ratio.

If you want an indefinite version, you would normally need an article:

En gjeldsgrad er høy = A debt ratio is high

But that sentence sounds a bit unusual unless you are making a very specific contrast or definition.

For a general statement, Norwegian would often phrase it differently, for example:

Gjeldsgraden kan være høy = The debt ratio can be high
En høy gjeldsgrad kan være risikabel = A high debt ratio can be risky

What is the basic word order in this sentence?

The basic word order is:

subject + verb + adjective

So here:

Gjeldsgraden = subject
er = verb
høy = adjective/predicative complement

This is the normal structure for a simple statement in Norwegian.

How would I pronounce Gjeldsgraden er høy?

A rough learner-friendly approximation is:

YELDS-grah-den er hoy

A few helpful notes:

In gjeld, the g is not strongly pronounced; the word begins roughly with a y sound.
graden has a clear grah- sound.
høy contains the Norwegian øy diphthong, which does not match English perfectly. It is somewhat similar to hoy, but with a more rounded starting sound.

You do not need perfect pronunciation right away; the most important thing is recognizing the word parts and stress pattern.

Is this sentence Bokmål or Nynorsk?

This sentence is standard Bokmål.

A Nynorsk version would typically use:

Gjeldsgraden er høg

So the main difference here is:

Bokmål: høy
Nynorsk: høg

Everything else in the sentence is very similar.

Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io