Det er en klassisk feil.

to be

Breakdown of Det er en klassisk feil.

• en: a
• det: it
• feilen: the mistake

Questions & Answers about Det er en klassisk feil.

Why does the sentence start with det?

In Norwegian, det is very often used as the subject in sentences with er.

Here, det works much like English it in It is a classic mistake. It does not have to refer to a concrete object you can point to. It can refer more generally to a situation, action, or idea.

So:

Det er en klassisk feil.
= It is a classic mistake.

If you were pointing at something specific, you might more naturally say dette instead.

Does det er mean it is or there is?

It can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, det er is closest to it is or that is:

Det er en klassisk feil.
= It is a classic mistake.

But in other sentences, det er can mean there is/there are:

Det er en feil i teksten.
= There is an error in the text.

So det er is a very common Norwegian pattern that covers more than one English structure.

Why is there an en before klassisk feil?

Because feil is a singular countable noun here, and in Norwegian singular count nouns normally need an article when they are indefinite.

So:

en feil = a mistake / an error

That gives:

en klassisk feil = a classic mistake

If you leave out en, the sentence would no longer have the same structure or meaning.