Breakdown of Den ansatte jobber sent på kvelden.
Questions & Answers about Den ansatte jobber sent på kvelden.
What does den ansatte mean, and why is it den + ansatte instead of en ansatt?
Den ansatte literally means “the employee.”
- En ansatt = “an employee” (indefinite singular)
- To make it definite you have two patterns:
- Attach a suffix to the noun (e.g. ansatt-en), or
- Use a definite pronoun (den for common gender) + adjective inflection (add -e to ansatt) → den ansatte.
- Because ansatt is derived from a past participle (an adjective), the second pattern is more common in formal/Nynorsk contexts and official documents.
Why is ansatte spelled with an -e at the end in den ansatte?
Here, ansatte isn’t the plural “employees” but the definite form of the adjective/participle ansatt after den. Norwegian adjectives take an -e ending when they follow a definite article or pronoun:
- Indefinite singular adjective: ansatt
- Definite (with den) + adjective → den ansatte
That’s why you see the -e ending even though we’re talking about one person.
How would I say “employees” (plural) in Norwegian, and how does the sentence change?
To talk about multiple employees:
- Indefinite plural: ansatte
- Definite plural: de ansatte
Examples:
• Ansatte jobber sent på kvelden.
“Employees work late in the evening.” (general statement)
• De ansatte jobber sent på kvelden.
“The employees work late in the evening.”
What does jobber mean, and can I use arbeider instead?
- Jobber is the present tense of å jobbe (“to work”). It’s common in everyday Norwegian (borrowed from English).
- Arbeider is the present tense of å arbeide, a more formal or traditional term for “to work.”
You can swap them without changing meaning:
• Den ansatte jobber sent på kvelden. (informal/neutral)
• Den ansatte arbeider sent på kvelden. (more formal)
Why is sent spelled with a -t, and what part of speech is it here?
- Sent is an adverb, formed from the adjective sen (“late”).
- In Norwegian, many adverbs are the neuter form of the adjective, often ending in -t (e.g. sen → sent, god → godt).
- Here sent modifies jobber (“works late”).
What does på kvelden mean, and could I use om kvelden or i kveld instead?
- på kvelden = “during the evening” (focus on that time period, can be general or particular)
- om kvelden = “in the evenings” (habitual, recurring)
- i kveld = “this evening/tonight” (a specific instance)
So:
• Den ansatte jobber sent på kvelden. → regularly works late in the evening period.
• Den ansatte jobber sent om kvelden. → works late in the evenings (habitual).
• Den ansatte jobber sent i kveld. → will work late tonight.
Can I move sent på kvelden to the beginning, and what happens to word order?
Yes. Norwegian follows the V2 rule (verb-second). If you start with a time expression, the verb must be the second element:
• Correct: Sent på kvelden jobber den ansatte.
• Incorrect: Sent på kvelden den ansatte jobber.
Both mean “Late in the evening, the employee works.”
How would I express this sentence in the past or future tense?
Past (simple past of å jobbe = jobbet):
• Den ansatte jobbet sent i går kveld.
“The employee worked late last night.”
Future (using skal or kommer til å):
• Den ansatte skal jobbe sent i kveld.
“The employee will work late tonight.”
• Den ansatte kommer til å jobbe sent i kveld.
(slightly more formal/explicit future)
More from this lesson
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning NorwegianMaster Norwegian — from Den ansatte jobber sent på kvelden to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions