Breakdown of De finner på en rollefigur.
Questions & Answers about De finner på en rollefigur.
Å finne på is a fixed verb expression that means to make up, to invent, or to come up with.
So De finner på en rollefigur means that they are creating a character from their imagination.
A useful point: finne by itself usually means find, but finne på has a different meaning. You should learn å finne på as one unit.
No. In this sentence, på is part of the verb expression å finne på.
So this is not:
- finne = find
- på en rollefigur = on a character
Instead, it is:
- finne på = make up / invent
- en rollefigur = a character
This is similar to English phrasal verbs like make up or come up with, where the small word is part of the meaning of the whole verb.
Here, De most naturally means they.
The capital D does not automatically mean formal you, because it is at the beginning of the sentence, where Norwegian normally uses a capital letter anyway.
It is true that De can be an old-fashioned formal you in Norwegian, but that is uncommon in modern everyday language. In a normal sentence like this, the learner should read De finner på en rollefigur as They make up a character.