Spørsmålet er upassende.

to be

Breakdown of Spørsmålet er upassende.

• spørsmålet: the question
• upassende: inappropriate

Questions & Answers about Spørsmålet er upassende.

What does spørsmålet mean exactly, and how is it built?

Spørsmålet means the question.

It is built from:

• spørsmål = question
• -et = the definite ending for a singular neuter noun

So:

• et spørsmål = a question
• spørsmålet = the question

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like the in English.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

Because Norwegian usually puts definiteness on the noun itself.

Compare:

• et spørsmål = a question
• spørsmålet = the question

So the ending -et is doing the job that the does in English.

This is very common in Norwegian:

• en bil = a car
• bilen = the car
• et hus = a house
• huset = the house

Why is it et spørsmål and not en spørsmål?