Lyden er merkelig.

The sound is strange.

Breakdown of Lyden er merkelig.

• være: to be
• lyden: the sound
• merkelig: strange

Questions & Answers about Lyden er merkelig.

Why is it lyden and not lyd?

Lyd means sound in the indefinite form, while lyden means the sound.

Norwegian often adds a definite ending directly to the noun:

• en lyd = a sound
• lyden = the sound

So the -en ending is the equivalent of English the here.

Why does lyd take -en?

Because lyd is a masculine noun in Bokmål.

For many masculine nouns, the pattern is:

• indefinite singular: en lyd
• definite singular: lyden

This is very common in Norwegian. Other examples:

• en bil → bilen
• en katt → katten

What part of speech is merkelig?

Merkelig is an adjective. It describes the noun lyden.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• strange
• odd
• weird

Depending on context, it can also suggest peculiar or unusual.