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Questions & Answers about Jeg var sulten da jeg kom.
What tense is var, and when do I use it?
Var is the simple past (preterite) of å være (“to be”), equivalent to English “was.” Use it for completed past actions or states. By contrast, er is present tense (“am/is”), and har vært is present perfect (“have been”) when you want to link a past state to the present.
Why is kom used here instead of har kommet or ankom?
Kom is the simple past of å komme (“to come/arrive”), used for narrating a specific past event.
- Har kommet (present perfect) would stress the result (“I have arrived”).
- Ankom is the preterite of the more formal ankomme (“to arrive”) and is uncommon in everyday speech.
Why is it sulten and not sultent or sultne?
After å være, adjectives in predicate position take the indefinite form:
- sulten = singular common–gender (“I was hungry”)
- sultent = singular neuter (e.g. barnet var sultent)
- sultne = plural (e.g. vi var sultne)
Why isn’t there an article before sulten (like en sulten)?
Predicative adjectives (those linked by a verb like å være) don’t take an article. You only use en when the adjective is attributive, directly modifying a noun: en sulten mann (“a hungry man”).
What is the role of da, and can I use når instead?
Da means “when” for a single, specific past event. Når is used for general, habitual, or future events. Since this sentence refers to one past moment (“when I arrived”), da is correct.
Should I put a comma before da jeg kom?
Commas before subordinate conjunctions like da are optional in Norwegian.
– Common style: Jeg var sulten da jeg kom
– Formal or to indicate a stronger pause: Jeg var sulten, da jeg kom
Could I omit the second jeg and say Jeg var sulten da kom?
No. Norwegian requires an explicit subject in every clause. You must repeat jeg in da jeg kom; omitting it would be ungrammatical.
If I start with the time clause Da jeg kom, do I need to change the word order?
No. A subordinate clause introduced by da stays in SVO order: Da jeg kom. The main clause also remains SVO: var jeg sulten. So you write Da jeg kom var jeg sulten, without inverting verb and subject.