Den ansatte jobber sent på kvelden.

The employee works late in the evening.

Breakdown of Den ansatte jobber sent på kvelden.

• jobbe: to work
• sent: late
• kvelden: the evening
• på: in
• den ansatte: the employee

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:
  
  1. Attach a suffix to the noun (e.g. ansatt-en), or
  2. 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)