Holdbarhetsdatoen viser holdbarheten.

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Breakdown of Holdbarhetsdatoen viser holdbarheten.

• holdbarheten: the shelf life
• holdbarhetsdatoen: the shelf-life date

Questions & Answers about Holdbarhetsdatoen viser holdbarheten.

Why do both nouns end in -en?

Because both nouns are in the definite singular form.

In Norwegian, definiteness is often shown by adding an ending to the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

• dato → datoen = the date
• holdbarhet → holdbarheten = the shelf life / the durability

So:

• holdbarhetsdatoen = the expiration date / best-before date
• holdbarheten = the shelf life

In English, you usually put the before the noun. In Norwegian, that meaning is built into the end of the noun.

What is holdbarhetsdatoen made up of?

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Norwegian.

It can be broken down like this:

• holdbarhet = shelf life, durability
• dato = date
• holdbarhetsdato = shelf-life date, expiration date, best-before date
• holdbarhetsdatoen = the expiration date / best-before date

Notice that holdbarhet becomes holdbarhets- inside the compound. That -s- is a linking sound often used in compounds.

So the structure is:

holdbarhet + s + dato + en

Why is there an -s- in holdbarhetsdatoen?