Hun ble døv.

Because ble is the past tense of å bli, which means to become.

So:

• Hun ble døv = She became deaf / She went deaf
• Hun var døv = She was deaf

This is an important difference:

• å være describes a state: er, var
• å bli describes a change: blir, ble

So this sentence focuses on the change of condition, not just the condition itself.

The base form is å bli.

A few useful forms are:

• å bli = to become
• blir = becomes / is becoming
• ble = became
• har blitt = has become

Examples:

• Hun blir trøtt. = She is getting tired.
• Hun ble døv. = She became deaf.
• Hun har blitt døv. = She has become deaf.

Because hun is singular, and after ble the adjective is in its basic common-gender/singular form: døv.

Compare:

• Hun ble døv. = She became deaf.
• Han ble døv. = He became deaf.
• Barnet ble døvt. = The child became deaf.
  
  • Here barnet is neuter, so the adjective becomes døvt.
• De ble døve. = They became deaf.
  
  • Plural gives døve.

So the adjective agrees with the noun/pronoun.

Yes, but it means something different.

• Hun er døv = She is deaf
  This describes her current state.
• Hun ble døv = She became deaf / She went deaf
  This describes the moment or process of change.

So both are correct, but they are used in different situations.

Usually døv means deaf, and it can refer either to being fully deaf or to being generally described as deaf, depending on context.

If you want to be more specific, Norwegian also has expressions like:

• tunghørt = hard of hearing

So:

• Hun er døv. = She is deaf.
• Hun er tunghørt. = She is hard of hearing.

Context tells you how strong or medical the statement is.

This is the normal Norwegian main-clause word order:

• Subject + verb + complement

So:

• Hun = subject
• ble = verb
• døv = adjective/complement

This is very similar to English:

• She became deaf

Norwegian usually keeps the finite verb in second position in main clauses, and here the subject comes first, so the verb follows it immediately.

A rough guide is that ø is the tricky part for English speakers.

• d = like English d
• ø = a rounded front vowel, somewhat like a sound between English uh and the vowel in French/German rounded vowels
• v = like English v

A very rough approximation is something like duhv with rounded lips, but that is not exact.

The most important thing is to practice the ø sound separately, since it appears in many Norwegian words.

Yes. Ble døv is a natural and common way to express that someone lost their hearing and became deaf.

Depending on context, Norwegian might also use longer expressions, but Hun ble døv is a normal, idiomatic sentence.

In English, natural translations include:

• She became deaf
• She went deaf

Yes. By itself, the sentence does not say whether it happened suddenly or gradually. It only says that the change happened.

Context would show the difference:

• Hun ble plutselig døv. = She suddenly became deaf.
• Hun ble gradvis døv. = She gradually became deaf.

So ble marks the change, but not the speed of the change unless extra words are added.

No. In Norwegian, adjectives like døv are not capitalized unless they begin the sentence.

So:

• Hun ble døv. ✅
• Hun ble Døv. ❌

The only capitalized word here is Hun because it is the first word of the sentence.