Likestrømmen går til batteriet.

The direct current goes to the battery.

Breakdown of Likestrømmen går til batteriet.

• gå: to go
• til: to
• batteriet: the battery
• likestrømmen: the direct current

Questions & Answers about Likestrømmen går til batteriet.

Why is likestrømmen written as one word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

So:

• like
  • strøm = likestrøm
• literally, this is the technical term for direct current

This is very normal in Norwegian. English often separates or hyphenates things that Norwegian joins into one word.

Also, in Norwegian compounds, the last part is the main noun. Here the main noun is strøm, so that controls the gender and the inflection.

Why does likestrømmen end in -en?

The ending -en is the definite article attached to the noun.

• likestrøm = direct current
• likestrømmen = the direct current

So instead of using a separate word like English the, Norwegian often adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

Why is there no separate word for the before likestrømmen?

Because Norwegian usually puts definiteness directly on the noun.

Compare:

• a battery = et batteri
• the battery = batteriet

and:

• direct current = likestrøm
• the direct current = likestrømmen

So -en and -et are already doing the job of English the.