Svarfristen er i morgen.

to be

Breakdown of Svarfristen er i morgen.

• i morgen: tomorrow
• svarfristen: the reply deadline

Questions & Answers about Svarfristen er i morgen.

What is svarfristen made up of?

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Norwegian:

• svar = answer, reply
• frist = deadline, time limit
• -en = the definite ending

So svarfristen is literally the answer-deadline or the reply deadline.

Norwegian often joins words together where English would use separate words.

Why is there no separate word for the?

In Norwegian, the definite article is often added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it.

Here:

• frist = a deadline
• fristen = the deadline

Because svarfrist is a compound noun, the definite ending goes on the whole word:

• svarfrist = reply deadline
• svarfristen = the reply deadline

So English uses a separate word, but Norwegian often uses a suffix.

Why is the verb er used here?

Er is the present tense of å være = to be.

This sentence is simply stating a fact about the deadline:

• Svarfristen er i morgen

Norwegian usually needs an explicit verb in this kind of sentence, just like English does. You cannot normally leave it out.

Why is it i morgen and not a single word?