Tom henter en venn i dag.

Tom

Breakdown of Tom henter en venn i dag.

• en: a
• i dag: today
• venn: the friend
• hente: to pick up

Questions & Answers about Tom henter en venn i dag.

What does the verb henter mean in this sentence?

Henter means “picks up” or “fetches.” So, the sentence tells you that Tom is picking up (or fetching) a friend.

Why is the present tense used even though the action is scheduled for later today?

In Norwegian, the present tense can be used to describe scheduled or planned future events when the context is clear. The time expression i dag (“today”) makes it obvious that the action is set for later that day, even though the verb is in the present tense.

What role does the word en play in en venn?

En is the indefinite article used for masculine nouns in Norwegian, similar to the English “a.” Thus, en venn translates to “a friend.”

How does the word order in this sentence compare to English?

The sentence follows a typical Subject-Verb-Object order, just like in English: Tom (subject), henter (verb), en venn (object), with the time phrase i dag (“today”) placed at the end. This similarity can make the sentence structure quite intuitive for English speakers.

Does the noun venn indicate the friend’s gender?

Grammatically, venn is a masculine noun in Norwegian, which is why it is preceded by en. However, while the grammatical gender is masculine, the term itself simply means “friend” and can refer to a person of any gender. If you specifically wanted to refer to a female friend, you might use venninne.

Could you add a modal verb to change the nuance of the sentence, and how would that work?

Yes, you could add skal to explicitly indicate a future action. For example, Tom skal hente en venn i dag emphasizes that Tom is definitely going to pick up a friend today. However, even without skal, the context provided by i dag clearly conveys the intended meaning of a planned future event.