Questions & Answers about Politiet har en mistanke.
Why is it politiet and not politi?
Because politiet is the definite form of politi.
- politi = police / a police force in a general sense
- politiet = the police
In this sentence, Norwegian uses the definite form because it means the police as an institution.
Is politiet singular or plural?
Grammatically, politiet is usually treated as singular in Norwegian, even though in English the police often takes a plural verb.
So Norwegian says:
- Politiet har en mistanke.
Not:
- Politiet harer ... or any plural verb form
This is similar to treating the police as one organization rather than as several officers.
Why is it en mistanke?
Because mistanke is a common gender noun, so its indefinite singular article is en.
- en mistanke = a suspicion
- mistanken = the suspicion
So the sentence means that the police have a suspicion, not the specific suspicion.
What is the gender and basic pattern of mistanke?