Den kristne kirken er gammel.

The Christian church is old.

Breakdown of Den kristne kirken er gammel.

• være: to be
• gammel: old
• den: the
• kirken: the church

Questions & Answers about Den kristne kirken er gammel.

Why does Norwegian use both den and kirken? Isn’t that like saying the Christian the church?

This is a very common question. In Norwegian, when a noun is definite and also has an adjective in front of it, you usually get double definiteness:

• den
  • adjective + noun in definite form

So:

• den kristne kirken

This is normal Norwegian grammar, not a mistake.

Compare:

• en kristen kirke = a Christian church
• den kristne kirken = the Christian church

Without the adjective, you would usually just say:

• kirken = the church

So the extra den appears because the noun phrase includes an adjective.

Why is it kristne and not kristen?

Because adjectives change form in Norwegian depending on how they are used.

Here, kristen becomes kristne because it is placed before a definite noun:

• en kristen kirke = indefinite
• den kristne kirken = definite

This -e form is very common with adjectives before definite nouns.

More examples:

• en gammel bok → den gamle boka / boken
• et fint hus → det fine huset

So kristne is the correct adjective form here.

Why is it kirken and not kirke?