Det er dyrt, dog nødvendig.

to be

Breakdown of Det er dyrt, dog nødvendig.

• den: it
• dyr: expensive
• nødvendig: necessary

Questions & Answers about Det er dyrt, dog nødvendig.

What does dog mean here? It looks like the English word dog, but that can’t be right.

Right — this dog has nothing to do with the animal.

In Norwegian, dog is a conjunction/adverb meaning however, nevertheless, or though.

So:

• Det er dyrt, dog nødvendig. = It is expensive, however necessary. = more naturally in English: It is expensive, but necessary.

A very important note: dog in Norwegian is usually formal or literary. In everyday speech, people would more often say:

• Det er dyrt, men nødvendig.
• Det er dyrt, men det er nødvendig.

So if you learn one practical version for daily use, men is much more common.

Why is it dyrt and not dyr?

Because dyr is an adjective, and here it agrees with det, which is treated as neuter singular.

The adjective dyr changes like this:

• en dyr bil = an expensive car
• et dyrt hus = an expensive house
• bilen er dyr = the car is expensive
• huset er dyrt = the house is expensive

In Det er dyrt, the det is the neuter form, so the adjective becomes dyrt.

This is very common in Norwegian with general statements:

• Det er kaldt. = It is cold.
• Det er vanskelig. = It is difficult.
• Det er dyrt. = It is expensive.

Why is it nødvendig and not ?