Ministeren møter statsministeren.

to meet

Breakdown of Ministeren møter statsministeren.

• statsministeren: the prime minister
• ministeren: the minister

Questions & Answers about Ministeren møter statsministeren.

Why do both ministeren and statsministeren end in -en?

Because -en is the usual definite singular ending for many masculine nouns in Norwegian.

So:

• minister = minister
• ministeren = the minister

And:

• statsminister = prime minister
• statsministeren = the prime minister

Unlike English, Norwegian often puts the at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word before it.

Why isn’t there a separate word for the in this sentence?

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as a suffix.

So instead of saying:

• the minister
• the prime minister

Norwegian says:

• minister-en
• statsminister-en

That is why the sentence does not need a separate word like English the.

How do I know who is doing the action and who receives it?

You know from the normal word order.

In Ministeren møter statsministeren:

• Ministeren comes first, so it is the subject
• møter is the verb
• statsministeren comes after the verb, so it is the object

So the sentence means:

• The minister meets / is meeting the prime minister

Not the other way around.