Himmelen er grå.

to be

Breakdown of Himmelen er grå.

• himmelen: the sky
• grå: gray

Questions & Answers about Himmelen er grå.

Why is it himmelen and not just himmel?

Because himmelen is the definite form of the noun, meaning the sky.

• himmel = sky / a sky
• himmelen = the sky

In Norwegian, the definite article is often added to the end of the noun as a suffix instead of being a separate word.

What does the ending -en mean in himmelen?

The ending -en is the usual definite singular ending for many common gender nouns in Bokmål.

So:

• en himmel = a sky
• himmelen = the sky

This is a very common pattern in Norwegian:

• en bil → bilen
• en stol → stolen
• en himmel → himmelen

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

Because Norwegian usually expresses the by attaching it to the noun.

In English:

• the sky

In Norwegian:

• himmelen

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Norwegian does have structures where a separate determiner appears too, but in a simple sentence like this, the suffixed form is the normal one.

What does er mean?