Breakdown of Kattekassen fylles med kattesanden.
Questions & Answers about Kattekassen fylles med kattesanden.
Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as one word.
So:
- kattekasse = cat litter box / cat box
- kattesand = cat litter
This is very common in Norwegian. English often separates these ideas into two words, but Norwegian usually joins them.
The last part of the compound is the main noun, so kattekasse behaves grammatically like kasse, and kattesand behaves like sand.
In Norwegian compounds, the first part sometimes appears in a special linking form. That is what you see here:
- katt → katte- in kattekasse
- katt → katte- in kattesand
That -e- is not something you need to translate. It is just part of how some compounds are formed.
This is not a general rule you can apply perfectly every time, so it is best to learn common compounds as whole words.
The ending -en marks the definite singular form, roughly like English the.
- en kattekasse = a litter box
- kattekassen = the litter box
In Norwegian, definiteness is often shown by an ending attached to the noun instead of a separate word before it.