Støttetaket er viktig under kantingen.

The support stroke is important during the edging.

Breakdown of Støttetaket er viktig under kantingen.

• være: to be
• viktig: important
• under: during (an event)
• støttetaket: the support stroke

Questions & Answers about Støttetaket er viktig under kantingen.

Why is støttetaket written as one word?

Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as a single word.

So here you have:

• støtte
  • tak → støttetak
• then the definite ending is added: støttetaket

This is very common in Norwegian. English often uses two words where Norwegian prefers one compound.

What does the ending -et in støttetaket mean?

-et is the definite singular ending for a neuter noun.

That means:

• et støttetak = an indefinite form
• støttetaket = the definite form

So instead of adding a separate word like the, Norwegian usually puts the definiteness on the end of the noun.

How do we know that støttetak is a neuter noun?

In Norwegian compounds, the last part usually decides the gender.

Here, the last part is tak, which is neuter, so the whole compound is neuter too:

• et tak
• et støttetak
• støttetaket

This is a useful rule for many compound nouns.

Why is it viktig and not viktigt?