Bilen er helt ren.

to be

Breakdown of Bilen er helt ren.

• bilen: the car
• ren: clean
• helt: completely

Questions & Answers about Bilen er helt ren.

Why is bilen used instead of bil, and what does it mean?

Bilen is the definite form of bil (“car”). In Norwegian you attach the definite article as a suffix: bil + -en = bilen, which literally means “the car.”

What is the role of er in this sentence?

Er is the present‐tense form of å være (“to be”). It works just like “is” in English and links the subject to its description.

What does helt mean, and what part of speech is it?

Helt is an adverb meaning “completely” or “entirely.” It modifies the adjective ren to intensify it (“completely clean”).

Why is ren not inflected to rene here?

After a linking verb like er, adjectives remain in their basic (indefinite) form, so you say er ren rather than er rene. Inflected forms (rene) appear when the adjective is attributive in front of a definite noun (e.g. det rene vannet).

Can I use other intensifiers instead of helt?