Breakdown of Kattekassen står ved klorestativet.
ved
at
stå
to stand
kattekassen
the litter tray
klorestativet
the scratching post
Questions & Answers about Kattekassen står ved klorestativet.
Why do both nouns have endings: kattekassen and klorestativet?
Those endings show the definite form in Norwegian:
- en kattekasse = a/the litter box → kattekassen = the litter box
- et klorestativ = a/the scratching post/cat tree → klorestativet = the scratching post/cat tree
Norwegian usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun, instead of putting a separate word like the in front.
How do I know why one noun ends in -en but the other ends in -et?
Because they have different grammatical genders:
- en kattekasse is a common gender noun, so the definite form is kattekassen
- et klorestativ is a neuter noun, so the definite form is klorestativet
A very common pattern is:
- en noun → definite -en
- et noun → definite -et
So:
- en bil → bilen
- et hus → huset
Why is it kattekasse and not something like kattkasse?