Bordhøyden er høy; ikke desto mindre kan sittehøyden justeres.

to be

Breakdown of Bordhøyden er høy; ikke desto mindre kan sittehøyden justeres.

• justere: to adjust
• høy: high
• kan: can

Questions & Answers about Bordhøyden er høy; ikke desto mindre kan sittehøyden justeres.

What does bordhøyden mean, and why is it one long word?

Bordhøyden is a compound noun:

• bord = table
• høyde = height
• bordhøyde = table height
• bordhøyden = the table height

Norwegian very often makes one noun out of ideas that English expresses with two words. So where English says table height, Norwegian commonly says bordhøyde.

The ending -n here marks the definite form, so bordhøyden means the table height.

Why does it say bordhøyden er høy? Isn’t that a bit repetitive, like saying the height is high?

Yes, it can sound a little repetitive if you translate it word for word into English.

But in Norwegian, this structure is completely normal:

• Høyden er høy = the height is high
• Temperaturen er høy = the temperature is high
• Prisen er høy = the price is high

Norwegian often uses høy with nouns like høyde, pris, temperatur, and so on. English usually prefers more natural rewording, such as:

• The table is high
• The table height is high
• The table is quite tall/high

So the Norwegian is grammatically fine, even if the literal English sounds slightly awkward.

What does høy mean here: high or tall?