Word
Politiet undersøker eksplosjonen.
Meaning
The police investigate the explosion.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Politiet undersøker eksplosjonen.
undersøke
to investigate; examine
politiet
the police
eksplosjonen
the explosion
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Questions & Answers about Politiet undersøker eksplosjonen.
Why is it politiet and not politi?
Because politiet is the definite form of politi.
- politi = police in a general sense
- politiet = the police
In this sentence, Norwegian uses the definite form because it refers to the police as a specific institution: the police are investigating the explosion.
Also, even though the police is often treated as plural in English, Norwegian politiet is grammatically singular.
Why is it eksplosjonen and not en eksplosjon?
Eksplosjonen is the definite singular form, meaning the explosion.
- en eksplosjon = an explosion
- eksplosjonen = the explosion
Norwegian usually adds the definite ending directly to the noun:
- en bil → bilen
- en eksplosjon → eksplosjonen
So this sentence is talking about one specific explosion, not just any explosion.
Why is there no separate word for the in front of the nouns?