Knappvrideren låser reilen.

to lock

Breakdown of Knappvrideren låser reilen.

• knappvrideren: the thumbturn
• reilen: the deadbolt

Questions & Answers about Knappvrideren låser reilen.

Why is knappvrideren written as one long word?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

Here, knappvrideren is built like this:

• knapp
• vrider
• -en

So instead of writing something like knapp vrider, Norwegian combines the parts into one compound noun. This is very common in Norwegian, much more than in English.

What does the ending -en in knappvrideren mean?

The ending -en is the definite singular ending, so it means the.

Compare:

• en knappvrider = a thumbturn / a knob turner
• knappvrideren = the thumbturn / the knob turner

In English, the comes before the noun. In Norwegian, it is often attached to the end of the noun.

Why does reilen also end in -en? Where is the word the?

For the same reason: reilen already includes the meaning the bolt / the deadbolt.

Compare:

• en reile = a bolt / a deadbolt
• reilen = the bolt / the deadbolt

So this sentence has two definite nouns:

• knappvrideren = the thumbturn
• reilen = the bolt

Norwegian often marks definiteness with an ending instead of a separate word.