Familien kjøper ranchen.

The family buys the ranch.

Breakdown of Familien kjøper ranchen.

• familien: the family
• kjøpe: to buy
• ranchen: the ranch

Questions & Answers about Familien kjøper ranchen.

Why does familien end in -en?

Because familien is the definite singular form of familie.

• familie = family
• familien = the family

In Norwegian, the idea of the is often added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it.

So:

• familie → family
• familien → the family

Why does ranchen also end in -en?

For the same reason: ranchen is the definite singular form of ranch.

• ranch = a ranch
• ranchen = the ranch

So Norwegian often marks definiteness with a suffix:

• -en
• -et
• -a

Which one you use depends on the noun.

In this sentence, both nouns are definite:

• Familien = the family
• ranchen = the ranch

Why is there no separate word for the in the sentence?