Bukselengden og livvidden må måles igjen.

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Breakdown of Bukselengden og livvidden må måles igjen.

• må: must
• igjen: again
• måle: to measure

Questions & Answers about Bukselengden og livvidden må måles igjen.

What do bukselengden and livvidden mean exactly?

They are both compound nouns:

• bukselengden = bukse

  • lengden
  • bukse = trousers/pants
  • lengde = length
  • so bukselengden means the trouser length / the pants length

• livvidden = liv

  • vidden
  • in clothing language, liv means waist
  • vidde means width
  • so livvidden means the waist width / the waist measurement

A natural English translation is often the trouser length and the waist measurement.

Why are bukselengden and livvidden written as single words?

Because Norwegian forms compound nouns by writing them as one word, much more often than English does.

So:

• bukse + lengde → bukselengde
• liv + vidde → livvidde

Then when they become definite:

• bukselengde → bukselengden
• livvidde → livvidden

This is very normal in Norwegian. Where English often writes waist measurement, Norwegian will usually make one compound word.

Why do both nouns end in -en?