Veggen er tynn.

The wall is thin.

Breakdown of Veggen er tynn.

• være: to be
• veggen: the wall
• tynn: thin (not thick)

Questions & Answers about Veggen er tynn.

Why is it veggen and not vegg?

Vegg means wall in the indefinite form.
Veggen means the wall in the definite singular form.

Norwegian often makes nouns definite by adding an ending:

• en vegg = a wall
• veggen = the wall

So in Veggen er tynn, the speaker is talking about a specific wall.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

In Norwegian, the is usually built into the noun as a suffix instead of being a separate word.

So:

• vegg = wall
• veggen = the wall

This is very common in Norwegian. English uses a separate word, but Norwegian often adds the definiteness directly to the noun.

What gender is vegg?

Vegg is a masculine noun in Bokmål.

Its basic forms are:

• en vegg = a wall
• veggen = the wall
• vegger = walls
• veggene = the walls

The gender matters because adjectives can change form depending on the noun they describe.

Why is it tynn and not tynne, even though veggen is definite?