Han er tilliten verdig.

to be

Breakdown of Han er tilliten verdig.

• han: he
• tilliten: the trust
• verdig: worthy; dignified

Questions & Answers about Han er tilliten verdig.

What is the basic grammar of Han er tilliten verdig?

It is:

• Han = subject
• er = present tense of å være
• tilliten verdig = a predicative expression describing han

The key point is that verdig is an adjective, and tilliten is the complement connected to that adjective. So this is not a normal English-style worthy of X structure; in Norwegian, verdig can take the noun phrase directly.

Why is there no preposition like English of?

Because Norwegian does not need one here.

English says worthy of the trust, but Norwegian often says simply:

• tilliten verdig
• respekten verdig
• all ros verdig

So verdig can connect directly to a noun phrase without a preposition.

Why is it tilliten and not tillit?

Tilliten is the definite form, meaning the trust or the trust in question.

In this kind of sentence, Norwegian often uses a definite noun or some other specific phrase, for example:

• tilliten
• vår tillit
• folkets respekt

Using bare tillit here would sound less idiomatic to many speakers. The sentence is talking about a particular trust, not just the concept of trust in general.

Why does come before ?