Boken er på italiensk.

to be

Breakdown of Boken er på italiensk.

• boken: the book
• på: in
• italiensk: Italian

Questions & Answers about Boken er på italiensk.

Why is it boken and not bok?

Because boken is the definite singular form of bok.

• bok = book / a book
• boken = the book

In Norwegian, definiteness is often added as an ending on the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

So:

• en bok = a book
• boken = the book

What does the ending -en mean in boken?

The ending -en marks the noun as definite singular for many common gender nouns in Bokmål.

Here:

• bok = base form
• bok + en → boken = the book

This is a very common pattern in Norwegian:

• en bil → bilen = the car
• en stol → stolen = the chair

So -en is doing the job that English usually does with the.

Why is er used here?