Tomgangsgebyret er høyt.

The idle fee is high.

Breakdown of Tomgangsgebyret er høyt.

• være: to be
• høy: high
• tomgangsgebyret: the idle fee

Questions & Answers about Tomgangsgebyret er høyt.

Why is tomgangsgebyret written as one long word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as one word, where English often uses two or more words.

So:

• tomgang = idling / running idle
• gebyr = fee
• tomgangsgebyr = idling fee
• tomgangsgebyret = the idling fee

This is very common in Norwegian. English speakers often want to separate compounds, but in Norwegian they are normally joined.

What does the ending -et in tomgangsgebyret mean?

The ending -et marks the noun as definite singular for a neuter noun.

Here is the pattern:

• et gebyr = a fee
• gebyret = the fee

So:

• et tomgangsgebyr = an idling fee
• tomgangsgebyret = the idling fee

Unlike English, Norwegian often adds the directly onto the noun as an ending.

Why is there an -s- in the middle: tomgangsgebyr?

That -s- is a linking s used in many Norwegian compounds.

So the compound is built like this:

• tomgang
• linking -s-
• gebyr

giving tomgangsgebyr

The -s- does not usually have a separate meaning by itself. It is just a common way of connecting parts of a compound. English learners often notice this because English does not really do the same thing in the same way.