Kvinnen var bevisstløs.

Because kvinnen is the definite singular form: the woman.

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun:

• en kvinne = a woman
• kvinnen = the woman

So the sentence uses kvinnen because it is talking about a specific woman.

The ending -en is the usual definite article ending for many masculine and feminine/common-gender nouns in Bokmål.

So:

• kvinne = woman
• kvinnen = the woman

This is a very important feature of Norwegian grammar: instead of always using a separate word like the, Norwegian often adds the definite article to the noun itself.

Traditionally, kvinne is a feminine noun. In Bokmål, though, feminine nouns can often also be treated as common gender nouns.

That means you may see:

• ei kvinne / kvinna in some styles
• en kvinne / kvinnen in very common Bokmål usage

In your sentence, kvinnen is completely standard.

Var is the past tense of å være (to be).

Examples:

• er = is / am / are (present tense)
• var = was / were (past tense)

So:

• Kvinnen er bevisstløs. = The woman is unconscious.
• Kvinnen var bevisstløs. = The woman was unconscious.

Here, bevisstløs is a predicate adjective: it comes after the verb var and describes the subject.

In Norwegian, predicate adjectives usually agree with the subject in gender and number:

• common gender singular: bevisstløs
• neuter singular: bevisstløst
• plural: bevisstløse

Since kvinnen is singular and not neuter, bevisstløs is the correct form.

Compare:

• Kvinnen var bevisstløs.
• Barnet var bevisstløst.
• Pasientene var bevisstløse.

Yes. Bevisstløs is written as one word.

That is very normal in Norwegian, especially with compounds and many adjectives. It is made up of parts that relate to conscious and without/lacking, but you should learn bevisstløs as a single adjective meaning unconscious.

The word order is very straightforward:

• Kvinnen = subject
• var = verb
• bevisstløs = subject complement/predicate adjective

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + verb + description

That is similar to English:

• The woman + was + unconscious

Yes, if it is already clear who you mean.

• Kvinnen var bevisstløs. = The woman was unconscious.
• Hun var bevisstløs. = She was unconscious.

Use kvinnen when you want to name the person as the woman. Use hun when the woman has already been identified in the conversation or text.

You just change var to er:

• Kvinnen er bevisstløs. = The woman is unconscious.

So:

• er = present tense
• var = past tense

A simple approximation for English speakers is:

• kvinnen ≈ KVIN-nen

A few helpful points:

• kv at the start is pronounced with both sounds: k
  • v
• the first syllable is stressed: KVIN
• the ending -en is usually a light unstressed ending

The exact pronunciation can vary somewhat by dialect, but that approximation is a good start.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• bevisstløs ≈ beh-VIST-luhs or beh-VIST-lurs (very approximate)

Important things to notice:

• the stress is on -visst-
• the vowel ø does not exist in English, so it may take practice
• the final -løs is one syllable

If you want to sound natural, the most important thing is to learn the ø sound and place the stress correctly.

No. In Norwegian, common nouns are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence.

So in this sentence:

• Kvinnen is capitalized only because it is the first word
• bevisstløs stays lowercase

If the noun appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be lowercase:

• Jeg så kvinnen. = I saw the woman.