Planen lykkes.

the plan

Breakdown of Planen lykkes.

• lykkes: to succeed

Questions & Answers about Planen lykkes.

Why does planen end in -en?

Because -en is the usual definite ending for many singular nouns in Norwegian.

• en plan = a plan
• planen = the plan

So Norwegian often expresses the by attaching it to the noun instead of using a separate word.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually a suffix, not a separate word.

So English:

• the plan

becomes Norwegian:

• planen

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice.

What form is lykkes here?

Here, lykkes is the present tense verb.

So the sentence is in the present: the plan succeeds / is succeeding / works out, depending on context.

A useful thing to know is that the verb å lykkes has these common forms:

• infinitive: å lykkes
• present: lykkes
• past: lyktes
• past participle: lyktes

So in this verb, the infinitive and present look the same except that the infinitive normally has å in front.

Why is there no å before lykkes?