Kjennetegnet er synlig på undersiden.

to be

Breakdown of Kjennetegnet er synlig på undersiden.

• på: on
• synlig: visible
• kjennetegnet: the identifying feature

Questions & Answers about Kjennetegnet er synlig på undersiden.

Where is the word the in this sentence?

In Norwegian, the is often built into the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So here:

• kjennetegnet = the distinguishing mark / the characteristic
• undersiden = the underside

That means the sentence already contains definiteness, even though there is no separate word like English the.

A useful comparison:

• et kjennetegn = a distinguishing mark
• kjennetegnet = the distinguishing mark

If you add an adjective before a definite noun, Norwegian often uses double definiteness, for example:

• det synlige kjennetegnet = the visible distinguishing mark

What is the base form of kjennetegnet?

The base form is et kjennetegn.

This is a neuter noun, and kjennetegnet is its definite singular form.

A helpful mini-table:

• et kjennetegn = a distinguishing mark / a characteristic
• kjennetegnet = the distinguishing mark
• kjennetegn = distinguishing marks / characteristics
• kjennetegnene = the distinguishing marks / the characteristics

One thing that often confuses learners is that kjennetegn can be both:

• singular indefinite
• plural indefinite

So the ending -et in kjennetegnet is very helpful, because it clearly shows definite singular.