Breakdown of Jeg hadde sendt en e-post, men den ansatte hadde ikke lest den.
jeg
I
ha
to have
en
a
lese
to read
men
but
den
it
ikke
not
sende
to send
e-posten
the email
ansatt
the employee
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Questions & Answers about Jeg hadde sendt en e-post, men den ansatte hadde ikke lest den.
Why is the past perfect used in both clauses Jeg hadde sendt en e-post and den ansatte hadde ikke lest den?
The past perfect (pluskvamperfektum) in Norwegian—formed with hadde + past participle—marks that an action happened before another past reference point. Here, sending the email occurred first (hadde sendt), and by that same past moment the employee still had not read it (hadde ikke lest). Using past perfect for both keeps the timeline clear: one event happened, then the next.
How do you form the past perfect tense in Norwegian?
You combine the past-tense auxiliary hadde with the past participle of the main verb.
• Infinitive å sende → past participle sendt → hadde sendt
• Infinitive å lese → past participle lest → hadde lest
When should I use simple past (sendte) instead of past perfect (hadde sendt)?
Use simple past (preteritum) when you’re just reporting a past event without linking it to any earlier past. For example, Jeg sendte en e-post i går (“I sent an email yesterday”). Use past perfect (hadde sendt) when you need to show that one past action happened before another past action or reference point.
What does den ansatte mean in this sentence?
Den ansatte literally means “the employee.” Den is the demonstrative article (“the”) and ansatte is “employee.” It’s a standard way to refer to a specific staff member without naming them.
Why is den used twice—for den ansatte and at the end as lest den?
The first den is a demonstrative article modifying ansatte (“the employee”). The second den at the end is a pronoun standing in for e-post (“it”). So hadde ikke lest den means “had not read it.”
Why is ikke placed between hadde and lest?
In Norwegian, the negation word ikke normally follows the finite (helping) verb and precedes the main verb or participle. That’s why you say hadde ikke lest (“had not read”) rather than hadde lest ikke.
Is the comma before men necessary in ..., men den ansatte ...?
In Norwegian, using a comma before coordinating conjunctions like men (“but”) is optional. Writers often include it to separate two main clauses clearly, but omitting it is also acceptable:
• With comma: Jeg hadde sendt en e-post, men den ansatte hadde ikke lest den.
• Without comma: Jeg hadde sendt en e-post men den ansatte hadde ikke lest den.
Why is the article en used with e-post instead of ei?
In Bokmål, many feminine nouns—including e-post—can take either en or ei as their indefinite article. Both en e-post and ei e-post are correct, though en e-post is more common in everyday speech.