Stien går på tvers av skogen.

to go

Breakdown of Stien går på tvers av skogen.

• skogen: the forest
• stien: the trail
• på tvers av: across

Questions & Answers about Stien går på tvers av skogen.

Why is it stien and not sti?

Sti means path or trail in the indefinite form.

• en sti = a path
• stien = the path

So stien går på tvers av skogen means the path ..., not a path ....

The ending -en is the normal definite ending for many masculine nouns in Norwegian.

Why is går used here? A path cannot literally walk.

In Norwegian, gå does not only mean to walk. It can also be used for things like roads, paths, lines, borders, and routes to mean:

• go
• run
• lead
• stretch

So in this sentence, går means something like runs or goes.

A very natural English translation would be:

• The path runs across the forest
• The path goes across the forest

What does på tvers av mean?

På tvers av is a fixed expression meaning:

• across
• crosswise across
• from one side to the other

It suggests that something cuts across an area rather than just being inside it.

So på tvers av skogen means the path goes across the forest, often with the idea that it crosses it from one side to another.