Barnet tegner monsteret.

The child draws the monster.

Breakdown of Barnet tegner monsteret.

• barnet: the child
• tegne: to draw
• monsteret: the monster

Questions & Answers about Barnet tegner monsteret.

Why do barnet and monsteret both end in -et?

Because both nouns are neuter nouns in Norwegian, and -et is the usual singular definite ending for neuter nouns.

So:

• et barn = an/a child
• barnet = the child

and

• et monster = a monster
• monsteret = the monster

In this sentence, both nouns are definite, so both take -et.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of appearing as a separate word before it.

So English:

• the child
• the monster

becomes Norwegian:

• barnet
• monsteret

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Norwegian often “builds” the into the noun itself.

What is the base form of these nouns?

The base dictionary forms here are:

• barn = child
• monster = monster

If you want the indefinite singular, you normally use:

• et barn
• et monster

Then the definite singular forms are:

• barnet
• monsteret

What form is ?