Gitaren er ny.

The guitar is new.

Breakdown of Gitaren er ny.

• være: to be
• gitar: the guitar
• ny: new

Questions & Answers about Gitaren er ny.

What does gitaren mean, and why does it have the ending -en attached?

Gitaren means "the guitar" in Norwegian. In Norwegian, definite nouns are formed by adding a suffix—in this case -en for most masculine singular nouns—to the base noun. So instead of placing a separate word for "the" before guitar, Norwegian attaches -en to make gitaren.

What role does the verb er play in the sentence Gitaren er ny?

The verb er is the present tense form of å være (to be) and functions as the linking verb in this sentence. It connects the subject gitaren with the predicate adjective ny, which describes the subject. Essentially, er corresponds to the English word "is".

Why does the adjective ny remain uninflected in this sentence?

In Norwegian, when an adjective is used in a predicative position—meaning it comes after a linking verb like er—it generally remains in its basic form. Although adjectives can change form (inflect) when used attributively before a noun (for example, den nye gitaren for "the new guitar"), in the sentence Gitaren er ny, ny stays unchanged because it is used to describe the subject after the verb.

What is the overall structure of the sentence Gitaren er ny?

The sentence follows a simple Subject-Verb-Predicate Adjective structure. Gitaren is the subject, er acts as the linking verb, and ny is the predicate adjective that gives more information about the subject. This straightforward structure is very similar to English declarative sentences like "The guitar is new."

How would you form a sentence with an attributive adjective—for example, saying "the new guitar" instead of using a predicate adjective?

When using an attributive adjective (one that comes before the noun), the adjective often takes an inflected form to agree with the noun in definiteness and gender. For instance, to say "the new guitar" attributively in Norwegian, you would say "den nye gitaren." Here, den is the definite article for masculine nouns, nye is the inflected form of ny to match the definite form of the noun, and gitaren is, as before, the definite form of guitar.