Hyllepluggen passer i hylleplaten.

The shelf support pin fits in the shelf panel.

Breakdown of Hyllepluggen passer i hylleplaten.

• i: in
• passe: to fit
• hylleplaten: the shelf panel
• hyllepluggen: the shelf support pin

Questions & Answers about Hyllepluggen passer i hylleplaten.

Why are hyllepluggen and hylleplaten written as single words?

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as one word, not as separate words.

• hylle = shelf
• plugg = plug/peg/dowel
• plate = board/panel/plate

So:

• hylleplugg = shelf peg / shelf plug
• hylleplate = shelf board / shelf panel

Then the definite ending is added to the whole compound:

• hylleplugg + en → hyllepluggen
• hylleplate + en → hylleplaten

This is very normal in Norwegian.

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

The ending -en is the definite singular ending, so it works like English the.

So:

• en hylleplugg = a shelf peg
• hyllepluggen = the shelf peg

and

• en hylleplate = a shelf board
• hylleplaten = the shelf board

A key difference from English is that Norwegian often puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

Why is there no separate word for the?