Utedoen står langt fra vannkilden.

The outside toilet is far from the water source.

Breakdown of Utedoen står langt fra vannkilden.

• fra: from
• stå: to stand
• langt: far
• vannkilden: the water source

Questions & Answers about Utedoen står langt fra vannkilden.

Why is utedoen written as one word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.
Here, utedo is a compound:

• ute = outside
• do = toilet / loo

So utedo means outhouse or outdoor toilet. Then -en is added to make it definite:

• en utedo = an outhouse
• utedoen = the outhouse

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

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So:

• utedoen = the outhouse
• vannkilden = the water source

This is very common in Norwegian. English says the before the noun, but Norwegian often puts the definiteness at the end.

What does står mean here? Why not er?

Står is the present tense of stå, which literally means stand.

In Norwegian, it is very common to use verbs like stå for the position or location of things, especially:

• buildings
• objects standing upright
• fixed structures

So Utedoen står ... literally means The outhouse stands ..., but in natural English we usually translate it as The outhouse is ...

Using står sounds more idiomatic than er here because an outhouse is a physical structure with a location.