Diagonalgangen er vanskelig nå.

to be

Breakdown of Diagonalgangen er vanskelig nå.

• nå: now
• vanskelig: difficult
• diagonalgangen: the diagonal stride

Questions & Answers about Diagonalgangen er vanskelig nå.

Why does diagonalgangen end in -en?

Because Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

• diagonalgang = diagonal stride / diagonal movement
• diagonalgangen = the diagonal stride / movement

So -en is the definite ending for a singular masculine or feminine/common-gender noun in Bokmål.

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Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

In Norwegian, definiteness is often expressed with a suffix on the noun.

Compare:

• en gang = a walk / a movement
• gangen = the walk / the movement

So instead of saying something like the diagonalgang, Norwegian says diagonalgangen.

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English.

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What kind of word is er?

Er is the present tense of å være (to be).

So:

• å være = to be
• er = am / is / are

In this sentence, er links the subject (diagonalgangen) to the description (vanskelig), just like is in English.

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Why is it vanskelig and not some other adjective form?