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Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Slektningen bor i byen. - The relative lives in the city.

Hardcore Norwegian
/Browsing a record fair with friends
/Slektningen bor i byen.

Slektningen bor i byen.

Word

Slektningen bor i byen.

Meaning

The relative lives in the city.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Norwegian

Lesson

Browsing a record fair with friends

Breakdown of Slektningen bor i byen.

Questions & Answers about Slektningen bor i byen.

Why do slektningen and byen end in -en?

The ending -en is the definite singular ending for many common-gender nouns in Norwegian.

slektning = a relative
slektningen = the relative
by = a city / a town
byen = the city / the town

So both nouns are definite here. That is why the sentence means the relative lives in the city, not just a relative lives in a city.

What is the basic form of slektningen?

The basic dictionary form is slektning.

That form usually means relative. It is a noun, and in this sentence it has the definite ending:

slektning = relative
slektningen = the relative

A useful thing to notice is that grammatical gender and real-life gender are not the same thing. Even though slektning is a common-gender noun grammatically, it can refer to a male or female relative.

What does bor mean, and what verb does it come from?

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bor is the present tense of å bo, which means to live in the sense of to reside or to dwell somewhere.

å bo = to live / reside
bor = lives / live

So Slektningen bor i byen means that the relative resides in the city.

This is important because English to live can mean two things:

to be alive
to reside somewhere

Norwegian usually separates those ideas more clearly:

å bo = to reside
å leve = to live, be alive, live life

Why is the preposition i used here?

i usually means in.

So:

i byen = in the city

It is the natural choice when you mean someone is located inside a place or lives within it.

You will often see:

bo i Oslo = live in Oslo
bo i Norge = live in Norway
bo i byen = live in the city

A learner may wonder about på, since Norwegian also uses på in many location expressions. That is true, but with by/byen, i is the normal choice.

Is by always best translated as city?

Not always. By can mean city or town, depending on context.

In many learning materials, byen is often translated as the city, but in real usage the size of the place may not be the main point. It can simply mean an urban place as opposed to the countryside.

So depending on context:

i byen can mean in the city
but sometimes also in town

What is the normal word order in this sentence?

The word order is the standard Norwegian pattern:

subject + verb + prepositional phrase

Slektningen = subject
bor = verb
i byen = prepositional phrase

So the structure is very similar to English:

The relative lives in the city.

In a simple main clause, Norwegian usually puts the finite verb in the second position. Here the subject comes first, so the verb comes right after it.

Would the word order change if I started with i byen?

Yes. Norwegian is a V2 language, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in main clauses.

So if you move i byen to the front, the verb must come next:

I byen bor slektningen.

That is grammatical, though more marked or literary in style. The more neutral sentence is still:

Slektningen bor i byen.

This verb-second pattern is very important in Norwegian.

How would I say the same sentence with indefinite nouns instead?

You would remove the definite endings and, if needed, add indefinite articles:

En slektning bor i en by. = A relative lives in a city.

But this sounds more general and less specific.

Compare:

Slektningen bor i byen. = a specific relative, a specific city/town
En slektning bor i en by. = any relative, any city/town

You could also mix definite and indefinite:

Slektningen bor i en by. = The relative lives in a city.
En slektning bor i byen. = A relative lives in the city.

How do you pronounce byen?

A helpful learner-level approximation is BEE-uhn, but with a Norwegian y sound, not a normal English ee.

A few key points:

y in Norwegian is a rounded vowel, similar to ü in German or u in French tu
byen is often pronounced roughly like by-en, but smoothly together

If the y sound is difficult, that is very normal for English speakers. It takes practice because English does not really have the same vowel.

Is slektningen a natural word in everyday Norwegian?

Yes, it is a real and correct everyday word, but exactly how common it feels depends on context.

slektning = relative
familiemedlem = family member

Sometimes Norwegians may prefer more specific words like:

kusine = cousin
onkel = uncle
tante = aunt

But slektning is perfectly normal when you mean a relative in a general sense.

Can this sentence also mean The family member lives in town?

Possibly, depending on context, but there are limits.

slektningen specifically means the relative
family member would more directly be familiemedlemmet

And:

i byen can sometimes be understood as in town

So the sentence could sound like The relative lives in town in some contexts, but the family member would not be the most direct translation of slektningen. The most exact meaning is still the relative lives in the city / in town.

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