Foreldrepengeperioden er lang.

to be

Breakdown of Foreldrepengeperioden er lang.

• lang: long
• foreldrepengeperioden: the parental-benefit period

Questions & Answers about Foreldrepengeperioden er lang.

Why is foreldrepengeperioden written as one long word?

Because Norwegian makes compound nouns by joining words together.

Here, foreldrepengeperioden is built as one compound, not as several separate words. That is very normal in Norwegian.

The main idea is:

• foreldrepenger = parental benefit / parental pay
• periode = period
• together: foreldrepengeperiode = parental-benefit period
• definite form: foreldrepengeperioden = the parental-benefit period

In English, we often write these parts separately. In Norwegian, they are usually written as one word.

How can I break down foreldrepengeperioden?

A useful breakdown is:

• foreldre = parents
• penger = money
• foreldrepenger = parental benefit/pay
• periode = period
• -en = the definite ending for a common-gender singular noun

So:

• foreldrepengeperiode = parental-benefit period
• foreldrepengeperioden = the parental-benefit period

The last part, periode, is the head of the compound. That means it decides the grammatical gender and inflection of the whole word.

Why is there no separate word for the?