Boken er på kinesisk.

to be

Breakdown of Boken er på kinesisk.

• boken: the book
• på: in
• kinesisk: Chinese

Questions & Answers about Boken er på kinesisk.

Why is it boken and not bok?

Bok means book in the indefinite form.

• en bok = a book
• boken = the book

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word. So boken literally means book-the.

Why does bok become boken?

Because bok is a common-gender noun, and its singular definite form usually takes -en.

So:

• en bok = a book
• boken = the book

This is a very common pattern in Norwegian:

• en bil → bilen
• en stol → stolen

What does er mean here?

Er means is. It is the present tense of the verb å være = to be.

So:

• jeg er = I am
• du er = you are
• boken er = the book is

Why is the sentence Boken er på kinesisk and not with a word meaning in?