Bakplaten ligger bak hylleplaten.

behind

Breakdown of Bakplaten ligger bak hylleplaten.

• ligge: to lie (be located)
• bakplaten: the back panel
• hylleplaten: the shelf panel

Questions & Answers about Bakplaten ligger bak hylleplaten.

Why is bak used twice in Bakplaten ligger bak hylleplaten?

Because the two bak words are doing different jobs.

• In bakplaten, bak- is part of a compound noun. It means something like back-, so bakplaten is the back panel / back plate.
• The second bak is a preposition meaning behind.

So even though the same form appears twice, the first is built into a noun, while the second shows location.

What does the -en ending mean in bakplaten and hylleplaten?

The ending -en marks the noun as definite singular, usually equivalent to the in English.

So:

• bakplate = a back panel / back plate
• bakplaten = the back panel / the back plate
• hylleplate = a shelf board / shelf panel
• hylleplaten = the shelf board / the shelf panel

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word before it.

Why doesn’t Norwegian use a separate word for the here?