Questions & Answers about Hun skylder banken mye.
Why is it banken and not banken with a preposition like til banken?
Because skylde in the sense of to owe normally takes a direct object for the person or institution you owe, without a preposition.
So Norwegian patterns like this:
- skylde noen noe = owe someone something
- Hun skylder banken mye = literally She owes the bank much/a lot
English often uses to in some related expressions, but Norwegian does not here.
You would not normally say Hun skylder mye til banken in standard usage for this meaning.
Why is banken in the definite form?
Banken means the bank. The definite ending -en is attached to the noun bank.
So:
- en bank = a bank
- banken = the bank
The sentence uses banken because it refers to a specific bank, not just any bank.
What form is skylder, and what is the infinitive?
Skylder is the present tense of the verb å skylde.
A few forms:
- infinitive: å skylde = to owe
- present: skylder = owe / is owing
- past: skyldte
- past participle: skyldt
So Hun skylder banken mye means She owes the bank a lot in the present tense.