Kostgodtgjørelsen følger dagsatsen under forutsetning av at tjenestereisen er lang.

The meal allowance follows the daily rate on condition that the business trip is long.

Breakdown of Kostgodtgjørelsen følger dagsatsen under forutsetning av at tjenestereisen er lang.

• være: to be
• lang: long
• følge: to follow
• tjenestereisen: the business trip

Questions & Answers about Kostgodtgjørelsen følger dagsatsen under forutsetning av at tjenestereisen er lang.

Why are kostgodtgjørelsen, dagsatsen, and tjenestereisen all in the definite form?

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun:

• kostgodtgjørelse = a meal allowance / subsistence allowance

• kostgodtgjørelsen = the meal allowance

• dagsats = a daily rate

• dagsatsen = the daily rate

• tjenestereise = a business trip / official trip
• tjenestereisen = the business trip

In this kind of administrative sentence, the speaker is referring to specific, known things: the allowance, the daily rate, the business trip.

Why is kostgodtgjørelsen written as one long word?

Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as one word.

So:

• kost
  • godtgjørelse → kostgodtgjørelse
• tjeneste
  • reise → tjenestereise

This is very common in Norwegian and often surprises English speakers, since English would usually write these as separate words, like meal allowance or business trip.

What does følger mean here? Does it literally mean follows?