Questions & Answers about Hun kjøper en svensk bok.
Why is it hun and not han?
Hun means she, while han means he. In this sentence, the subject is female, so Norwegian uses hun.
- Hun kjøper en svensk bok. = She buys a Swedish book.
- Han kjøper en svensk bok. = He buys a Swedish book.
What form of the verb is kjøper?
Kjøper is the present tense of the verb å kjøpe (to buy).
Some useful forms are:
- å kjøpe = to buy
- kjøper = buys / is buying
- kjøpte = bought
- har kjøpt = have/has bought
In Norwegian, the present tense usually ends in -r, so kjøpe → kjøper is a very common pattern.
Why doesn’t the verb change for hun?
In Norwegian, verbs do not change depending on the subject the way they do in English.
Compare:
- I buy
- you buy
- she buys
In English, she takes buys, but in Norwegian the verb stays the same:
- jeg kjøper = I buy
- du kjøper = you buy
- hun kjøper = she buys
This is one of the nice things about Norwegian grammar.