Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Andelseieren spør om fellesgjelden. - The unit owner asks about the common debt.

Breakdown of Andelseieren spør om fellesgjelden.

Why is andelseieren one long word?

Because Norwegian very often forms nouns as compounds written as a single word.

Here, andelseieren is built from:

So andelseieren literally breaks down as share-owner-the, which corresponds to the co-op owner / the shareholder in English.

In housing contexts, andelseier often refers to someone who owns a share in a housing cooperative.

Why does andelseieren end in -en?

The ending -en is the definite article attached to the noun.

In Norwegian, instead of usually putting the before the noun, you often add a suffix to the end:

So the definiteness is built into the noun itself.

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

Because Norwegian usually marks definiteness by adding an ending to the noun rather than using a separate article.

Examples:

So in andelseieren and fellesgjelden, the idea of the is already included in the endings -en.