Det var et patetisk forsøk.

to be

Breakdown of Det var et patetisk forsøk.

• et: a
• det: it
• forsøket: the attempt

Questions & Answers about Det var et patetisk forsøk.

What does det do here, and can it be omitted?

Det is the subject of the sentence. In a sentence like this, it often works like English it in It was a pathetic attempt.

Norwegian usually requires an explicit subject in a normal finite clause, so you generally cannot just omit det here.

Depending on context, det can either:

• refer back to something already mentioned, or
• act as a more general it when making a statement.

So Det var et patetisk forsøk is a very normal, complete sentence.

Why is it var and not er?

Var is the past tense of å være (to be).

So:

• er = is / am / are
• var = was / were

That means the sentence is talking about something in the past.

Compare:

• Det er et patetisk forsøk. = It is a pathetic attempt.
• Det var et patetisk forsøk. = It was a pathetic attempt.

Why is it et and not en?