Ingen vil begå en forbrytelse.

No one wants to commit a crime.

Breakdown of Ingen vil begå en forbrytelse.

• en: a
• vil: want
• ingen: no one
• forbrytelsen: the crime

Questions & Answers about Ingen vil begå en forbrytelse.

What does ingen mean here?

Here, ingen is an indefinite pronoun meaning no one / nobody.

It can also be used before a noun to mean no:

• Ingen biler er her. = No cars are here.

But in Ingen vil begå en forbrytelse, it stands alone as the subject of the sentence: no one.

Why is there no ikke in the sentence?

Because ingen already contains the negative meaning.

Compare:

• Ingen vil begå en forbrytelse. = No one wants to / will commit a crime.
• Noen vil ikke begå en forbrytelse. = Someone does not want to commit a crime.

So you do not need ikke here. Using both would change the structure and meaning.

Why is the word order Ingen vil ...?

This is normal Norwegian main-clause word order.

Norwegian usually follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb comes in the second position.

Here:

• Ingen = first element
• vil = finite verb, so it comes second
• begå en forbrytelse = the rest of the sentence

So Ingen vil begå en forbrytelse is the expected structure.

If you said Vil ingen begå en forbrytelse?, that would sound like a question: Does nobody want to commit a crime?

Why is it vil begå and not ?