Breakdown of Vi kjøper fellesgaven, bare spleisen dekker prisen.
vi
we
kjøpe
to buy
prisen
the price
dekke
to cover
Questions & Answers about Vi kjøper fellesgaven, bare spleisen dekker prisen.
Why is fellesgaven written as one word?
Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.
- felles = shared / joint / common
- gave = gift
So fellesgave means shared gift or group gift, and fellesgaven means the shared gift.
This is very common in Norwegian:
- bursdagsgave = birthday gift
- julegave = Christmas gift
- fellesgave = joint gift
English often uses separate words where Norwegian prefers one compound word.
Why is it fellesgaven and not something like den felles gave?
Because in Norwegian, definiteness is often shown by adding a definite ending to the noun.
Here:
- gave = gift
- gaven = the gift
- fellesgaven = the joint gift / the shared gift
So the definite article is attached to the noun as -en.
You can also have forms like den felles gaven in some contexts, but that is not the normal way to express this particular idea. Also, fellesgave is really functioning as a fixed compound noun, not just an adjective plus noun.
What does spleisen mean here?