Etterretningen endrer planen.

The intelligence information changes the plan.

Breakdown of Etterretningen endrer planen.

• planen: the plan
• endre: to change
• etterretningen: the intelligence information

Questions & Answers about Etterretningen endrer planen.

Why do etterretningen and planen both end in -en?

Because -en is a common definite singular ending in Bokmål.

• plan = a plan
• planen = the plan

And similarly:

• etterretning = intelligence / an intelligence report / intelligence work
• etterretningen = the intelligence or the intelligence service, depending on context

So the -en ending here is doing the job that English often does with the.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the?

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.

So instead of saying something like the plan with a separate article, Norwegian usually says planen.

This is very normal:

• en bil = a car
• bilen = the car

A separate word like den is used in other structures, for example:

• den nye planen = the new plan

So in Etterretningen endrer planen, the definiteness is already built into the nouns.

What exactly does etterretningen mean here?