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Questions & Answers about Ja, det er en vakker dag.
What does ja mean at the beginning of this sentence?
ja simply means yes. It’s used here to affirm or agree—equivalent to starting with “Yes, it is a beautiful day.” in English.
Why do we use det er instead of just er?
Norwegian, like English, needs a subject in a statement. det is a dummy or neutral subject (“it”), so det er corresponds to English “it is.” Omitting det would leave you without a subject and sound ungrammatical.
Why is the adjective vakker and not vakkert?
Adjectives in Norwegian agree in gender and number when used with an indefinite article. dag is a masculine (common-gender) noun in the singular, so the correct indefinite adjective form is vakker. The neuter form would be vakkert, and the plural/common-gender definite form would be vakre.
Why is there an en before vakker dag?
en is the indefinite article “a” for masculine (common-gender) singular nouns. Since dag is masculine singular, you say en dag (“a day”) and insert the adjective: en vakker dag.
What gender is the noun dag, and how can I tell?
dag is masculine (common gender). You can tell because it takes the indefinite article en and the adjective form vakker rather than a neuter vakkert.
Can I drop det and just say Er en vakker dag?
No. You need an explicit subject in such statements. Er en vakker dag would be a fragment. Always use det er for “it is.”
Is the word order the same as in English?
Yes. The structure is Subject (det) – Verb (er) – Complement (en vakker dag), mirroring “It is a beautiful day.”
How would I say the beautiful day in Norwegian?
If you want the definite noun phrase, you can say den vakre dagen (“the beautiful day”). If you instead make it a statement you could also say Dagen er vakker (“The day is beautiful”).