Svaret er det motsatte.

to be

Breakdown of Svaret er det motsatte.

• svaret: the answer
• det: the
• motsatt: opposite

Questions & Answers about Svaret er det motsatte.

Why is svaret one word, and why doesn’t Norwegian use a separate word for the here?

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.

• et svar = an answer
• svaret = the answer

So svaret already includes the meaning of the answer. This is very common in Norwegian.

What gender is svar, and how does that affect the sentence?

Svar is a neuter noun.

• et svar = an answer
• svaret = the answer

Because it is neuter, that also helps explain why the later phrase is det motsatte and not den motsatte.

Why is the sentence Svaret er ... and not something like Er svaret ...?

This is the normal word order for a statement:

• Svaret = subject
• er = verb
• det motsatte = complement

So the structure is simply:

Subject + verb + complement

If you changed it to Er svaret det motsatte?, that would become a question: Is the answer the opposite?

What does det mean in det motsatte?