Kartbiten ligger på puslespillbrikken.

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Breakdown of Kartbiten ligger på puslespillbrikken.

• ligge: to lie (be located)
• kartbiten: the piece of the map
• puslespillbrikken: the puzzle piece

Questions & Answers about Kartbiten ligger på puslespillbrikken.

Why are kartbiten and puslespillbrikken written as single words?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as one word, where English often uses two or more words.

• kartbiten = kart
  • biten
• puslespillbrikken = puslespill
  • brikken

This is very common in Norwegian. Compare:

• puslespill = puzzle / jigsaw
• puslespillbrikke = puzzle piece
• bokhylle = bookshelf
• sommerferie = summer holiday

So if you split them up into separate words, it will often look unnatural or incorrect in Norwegian.

What does the -en ending mean in kartbiten and puslespillbrikken?

The -en ending marks the noun as definite, like the in English.

So:

• en kartbit = a map piece / a card piece
• kartbiten = the map piece / the card piece

And:

• en puslespillbrikke = a puzzle piece
• puslespillbrikken = the puzzle piece

Norwegian often puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

Why is there no separate word for the?