Politiet mistenker mannen.

the man

Breakdown of Politiet mistenker mannen.

• politiet: the police
• mistenke: to suspect

Questions & Answers about Politiet mistenker mannen.

Why do politiet and mannen have endings instead of a separate word for the?

Because Norwegian usually marks definiteness by adding it to the end of the noun.

• mann = man
• mannen = the man
• politi = police / police force
• politiet = the police

So where English uses a separate word like the, Norwegian often uses a suffix like -en, -et, or -a.

Is politiet singular or plural?

Grammatically, politiet is a singular definite form. But in meaning, it often refers to the police as a group or institution.

That is why English uses the police, which feels plural, while Norwegian uses politiet.

This does not cause a verb problem, because Norwegian verbs do not change form for singular vs. plural in the present tense.

What form is mistenker?

Mistenker is the present tense of å mistenke, which means to suspect.

So:

• å mistenke = to suspect
• mistenker = suspect / suspects / am suspecting / is suspecting, depending on context

Norwegian present tense is much simpler than English:

• jeg mistenker = I suspect
• du mistenker = you suspect
• han mistenker = he suspects
• de mistenker = they suspect

The verb form stays the same.