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Questions & Answers about Legen oppdaget viruset.
Why is it legen and not lege?
Because legen is the definite singular form of lege.
- lege = a doctor
- legen = the doctor
In Norwegian, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun as a suffix, instead of being a separate word like English the.
For this noun:
- en lege = a doctor
- legen = the doctor
So Legen already includes the idea of the.
Why is it viruset?
Viruset is the definite singular form of virus.
- et virus = a virus
- viruset = the virus
This happens because virus is a neuter noun in Norwegian, so its definite ending is -et.
Compare:
- common gender: en bil → bilen
- neuter gender: et hus → huset
- neuter gender: et virus → viruset
So viruset means the virus, not just virus.
Why isn’t there a separate word for the?