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Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Konfettien ligger i posen. - The confetti is in the bag.

Hardcore Norwegian
/Planning a surprise party
/Konfettien ligger i posen.

Konfettien ligger i posen.

Word

Konfettien ligger i posen.

Meaning

The confetti is in the bag.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Norwegian

Lesson

Planning a surprise party

Breakdown of Konfettien ligger i posen.

to lie (be located)

Questions & Answers about Konfettien ligger i posen.

Why is there no separate word for the in this sentence?

In Norwegian, the is usually added to the end of the noun instead of standing in front of it.

So here:

konfetti = confetti
konfettien = the confetti
pose = bag
posen = the bag

That is why the sentence says Konfettien ligger i posen rather than using a separate word for the.

Why does it say konfettien?

Konfettien is the definite form of konfetti, so it means the confetti.

A native English speaker may find this slightly odd because English confetti is usually treated as an uncountable noun. Norwegian can do that too, but it can still make it definite very naturally: konfettien = the confetti.

You can think of it as referring to a specific amount or batch of confetti that both speaker and listener know about.

Why is ligger used instead of just er?

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Norwegian often prefers a position verb where English would simply use is.

Ligge means to lie or to be lying / to be situated. For things that are resting somewhere, especially loose objects or things inside something, ligger is very natural.

So:

Konfettien ligger i posen = the confetti is lying / is in the bag

English normally just says is, but Norwegian often chooses a more specific verb:

ligger = lies / is lying
står = stands / is standing
sitter = sits / is sitting

Here, ligger sounds more idiomatic than er.

Could I also say Konfettien er i posen?

Yes, people would understand it.

But Konfettien ligger i posen sounds more natural in everyday Norwegian, because it describes the confetti as physically resting inside the bag.

So:

Konfettien ligger i posen = more idiomatic
Konfettien er i posen = understandable, but less natural in this context

What does i posen mean, and why is it i?

I means in or inside.

So i posen means in the bag.

That preposition is used because the confetti is inside the bag, not on top of it.

Compare:

i posen = in the bag
på posen = on the bag

Why is it posen and not en pose?

Because posen means the bag, while en pose means a bag.

So the sentence is talking about a specific bag:

i posen = in the bag
i en pose = in a bag

If you changed the sentence to Konfettien ligger i en pose, that would mean The confetti is in a bag.

Is konfetti singular or plural here?

It is best thought of here as a mass noun rather than a normal countable singular or plural noun.

That means it behaves more like English words such as:

sand
rice
money

Even though confetti consists of many tiny pieces, the word konfetti refers to it as a substance or mass.

Also, Norwegian verbs do not change for singular and plural the way English verbs sometimes do, so ligger would stay the same anyway.

What is the word order in this sentence?

The structure is:

Konfettien = subject
ligger = verb
i posen = prepositional phrase showing location

So the sentence follows a very common pattern:

Subject + verb + place

That makes it fairly straightforward for an English speaker.

What is the basic dictionary form of the words here?

The basic forms are:

konfetti = confetti
ligge = to lie / to be lying / to be located
pose = bag
i = in

The sentence uses inflected forms:

konfettien = definite form of konfetti
ligger = present tense of ligge
posen = definite form of pose

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