Telefonen er ubrukelig.

The telephone is useless.

Breakdown of Telefonen er ubrukelig.

• være: to be
• telefonen: the telephone
• ubrukelig: useless

Questions & Answers about Telefonen er ubrukelig.

Why is it telefonen and not just telefon?

Because telefonen is the definite singular form: the phone.

In Norwegian, a noun often gets the definite article as an ending:

• en telefon = a phone
• telefonen = the phone

So Telefonen er ubrukelig means The phone is useless.

A bare singular noun like telefon usually would not be used here for a normal complete sentence about one specific phone.

What gender is telefon, and what are its basic forms?

Telefon is usually a common gender noun, so the indefinite article is en.

Its basic forms are:

• en telefon = a phone
• telefonen = the phone
• telefoner = phones
• telefonene = the phones

That -en ending in telefonen is the normal definite ending for many common-gender nouns.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?