Forvekslingsarten kan vokse på samme voksested.

The lookalike species can grow at the same growing site.

Breakdown of Forvekslingsarten kan vokse på samme voksested.

• på: at
• vokse: to grow
• samme: same
• kan: can

Questions & Answers about Forvekslingsarten kan vokse på samme voksested.

Why is forvekslingsarten written as one word?

Because Norwegian normally writes compound nouns as a single word.

Here, forvekslingsarten is built from:

• forveksling = confusion / mix-up
• art = species
• -en = the definite ending the

So the core noun is forvekslingsart, meaning something like a species that can be confused with another species or a look-alike species, and forvekslingsarten means the look-alike species.

This is very typical in Norwegian. Where English often uses several words, Norwegian often packs them into one compound noun.

What is the -s- doing in forvekslingsart?

That -s- is a linking sound often used in Norwegian compounds.

So:

• forveksling
  • art
    becomes
• forvekslingsart

It does not usually add a separate meaning by itself. It mainly helps the compound sound natural and fit Norwegian word-building patterns.

You will see this a lot in compound nouns.

Why does the sentence use forvekslingsarten and not just forvekslingsart?