Fiskeplassen ligger ved ferskvannet.

The fishing place lies by the fresh water.

Breakdown of Fiskeplassen ligger ved ferskvannet.

• ved: at
• ligge: to lie (be located)
• fiskeplassen: the fishing place
• ferskvannet: the fresh water

Questions & Answers about Fiskeplassen ligger ved ferskvannet.

Why is fiskeplassen written as one word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

• fiske = fishing / fish-
• plass = place, spot
• fiskeplass = fishing spot / fishing place

Then the definite ending is added:

• fiskeplass = a fishing spot
• fiskeplassen = the fishing spot

This is very common in Norwegian. English often uses two words where Norwegian uses one.

Why does fiskeplassen end in -en?

The -en is the definite article attached to the noun. In Norwegian, the is often added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

For a masculine noun like plass:

• en plass = a place
• plassen = the place

So:

• en fiskeplass = a fishing spot
• fiskeplassen = the fishing spot

This is one of the biggest differences from English.

What does ligger mean here, and why isn’t it er?

Here ligger means lies or, more naturally in English, is located.

Norwegian often uses verbs like ligge for location:

• Boken ligger på bordet. = The book is on the table.
• Byen ligger ved kysten. = The city is on/by the coast.

So Fiskeplassen ligger ved ferskvannet means the fishing spot is situated there. Using er would usually sound less natural in this kind of location sentence.