Barnet tegner heksen.

the child

Breakdown of Barnet tegner heksen.

• tegne: to draw
• heksen: the witch

Questions & Answers about Barnet tegner heksen.

Why does barnet end in -et?

Because barn is a neuter noun in Norwegian.

• et barn = a child
• barnet = the child

So the ending -et is the definite singular ending for many neuter nouns. Instead of putting a separate word before the noun, Norwegian usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun.

Why does heksen end in -en?

Because heksen is the definite singular form of heks.

• en heks = a witch
• heksen = the witch

The ending -en is a very common definite singular ending for non-neuter nouns in Bokmål.

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

In Norwegian, the is usually built into the noun itself.

So instead of saying something like:

• the child
• the witch

Norwegian says:

• barnet
• heksen

This is one of the biggest differences from English.
A separate word like the is usually not needed when the noun stands alone.

However, if there is an adjective, Norwegian often uses double definiteness, for example:

• det lille barnet = the small child

There you get both a separate definite word and a definite ending on the noun.