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Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Barnet leser om trollet. - The child reads about the troll.

Hardcore Norwegian
/Having an eye examination and choosing glasses
/Barnet leser om trollet.

Barnet leser om trollet.

Word

Barnet leser om trollet.

Meaning

The child reads about the troll.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Norwegian

Lesson

Having an eye examination and choosing glasses

Breakdown of Barnet leser om trollet.

Questions & Answers about Barnet leser om trollet.

Why do barnet and trollet end in -et?

Because both nouns are in the definite singular form, and both are neuter nouns.

et barn = a child
barnet = the child
et troll = a troll
trollet = the troll

In Norwegian, the idea of the is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word, especially in simple cases like this.

Why is there no separate word for the in the sentence?

Norwegian usually puts the definite article onto the noun itself as a suffix.

So instead of:

the child
the troll

you get:

barnet
trollet

This is very different from English, where the is a separate word. In Norwegian, this suffix system is one of the first big grammar differences learners notice.

What form is leser?

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Leser is the present tense of the verb å lese (to read).

So:

å lese = to read
leser = reads / is reading

In Norwegian, the present tense is often used where English might use either:

reads
is reading

So Barnet leser om trollet can match English The child reads about the troll or The child is reading about the troll, depending on context.

Why is it leser and not lese?

Because lese is the infinitive form, meaning to read, while leser is the finite verb form used with a subject in the present tense.

Compare:

å lese = to read
barnet leser = the child reads / is reading

After a subject like barnet, you need the conjugated verb form, so leser is correct.

What does om mean here?

Here, om means about.

So:

leser om trollet = reads about the troll

This is a very common use of om when talking about the topic of reading, speaking, writing, learning, and so on.

Examples:

Jeg leser om Norge. = I am reading about Norway.
Vi snakker om filmen. = We are talking about the film.

Can om mean other things too?

Yes. Om has several meanings in Norwegian, so learners often have to rely on context.

Some common meanings are:

about
- en bok om dyr = a book about animals
if
- Om du vil, kan vi gå. = If you want, we can go
sometimes in with time expressions
- om to dager = in two days

In your sentence, because it follows leser, the meaning is clearly about.

Why is it trollet and not trollen?

Because troll is normally a neuter noun in Norwegian:

et troll = a troll
trollet = the troll

For many neuter nouns, the definite singular ending is -et.

By contrast, many masculine nouns take -en:

en bil = a car
bilen = the car

So trollet follows the neuter pattern.

What is the basic word order in this sentence?

The sentence follows the normal Norwegian pattern for a simple statement:

Subject + Verb + other information

Barnet = subject
leser = verb
om trollet = prepositional phrase

So the structure is very similar to English:

The child reads about the troll.

This makes the sentence quite beginner-friendly.

Could I say Et barn leser om et troll instead?

Yes, but it would mean something slightly different.

Barnet leser om trollet = The child reads about the troll
Et barn leser om et troll = A child reads about a troll

The second sentence is indefinite: it does not refer to a specific child or a specific troll. The original sentence refers to specific ones.

Is barn singular or plural?

This is a very good question, because barn is one of those nouns whose forms can look confusing.

singular indefinite: et barn = a child
singular definite: barnet = the child
plural indefinite: barn = children
plural definite: barna or barnene = the children

So barn can be either singular indefinite or plural indefinite, depending on context. In your sentence, barnet clearly means the child.

Why doesn’t the verb change depending on the subject, like in English?

In modern Norwegian, verbs usually do not change according to person or number.

So you get:

jeg leser = I read / am reading
du leser = you read / are reading
barnet leser = the child reads / is reading
vi leser = we read / are reading

This is simpler than English in some ways, because you do not have to memorize forms like read/reads for different subjects in the present tense.

Do I need å before leser?

No. You only use å with the infinitive form of a verb.

å lese = to read

But in a normal sentence with a subject and a present-tense verb, you do not use å:

Barnet leser = The child reads / is reading

So å would be wrong here.

How is Barnet leser om trollet pronounced?

A careful approximate pronunciation is:

BAR-neht LAY-sehr om TRO-leht

A few notes:

barnet has two syllables: bar-net
leser also has two: le-ser
trollet has two: troll-et

The exact sounds vary a bit by dialect, but the spelling is quite manageable once you know the noun endings and the present-tense pattern.

Could this sentence also mean The child is reading about the troll?

Yes. Norwegian present tense often covers both:

The child reads about the troll
The child is reading about the troll

Context usually tells you which one sounds more natural in English. Norwegian does not need a separate continuous form the way English often does.

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