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Parken er trygg, men trafikken rundt den er farlig.

Parken er trygg, men trafikken rundt den er farlig.
The park is safe, but the traffic around it is dangerous.
FromLesson 10inHardcore Norwegian
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Breakdown of Parken er trygg, men trafikken rundt den er farlig.

være
to be
men
but
den
it
parken
the park
trygg
safe
trafikken
the traffic
rundt
around
farlig
dangerous
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sykkelenJeg vasker sykkelen hver dag.sykleHan liker å sykle om morgenen.parkenJeg har en ny sykkel, og jeg sykler til parken i dag.tryggtrafikken

Questions & Answers about Parken er trygg, men trafikken rundt den er farlig.

What does the -en ending in parken and trafikken signify?

The -en suffix is the definite article attached to a common-gender noun in Norwegian.

  • park (a park) → parken (the park)
  • trafikk (traffic) → trafikken (the traffic)
Why do we use den after rundt, and what does it refer to?

den is the third-person singular pronoun for common-gender nouns. Here it refers back to parken.

  • rundt den means around it (around the park).
    If the noun were neuter, you’d use det instead.
Could we say trafikken rundt parken instead of trafikken rundt den?

Yes. Both are correct:

  • trafikken rundt parken (the traffic around the park)
  • trafikken rundt den (the traffic around it)
    Using den is just replacing the noun with a pronoun.
Why don’t the adjectives trygg and farlig take any endings here?
After a linking verb like er (to be), Norwegian adjectives stay in their base (uninflected) form. They don’t change for gender or number when used predicatively.
Why is the word order Parken er trygg, men trafikken rundt den er farlig?

This is two coordinate clauses joined by men (but). In Norwegian, coordinating conjunctions do not invert word order. Both clauses follow the standard Subject–Verb–Complement order:

  1. Parken (Subject) er (Verb) trygg (Complement)
  2. trafikken rundt den (Subject) er (Verb) farlig (Complement)
Is men a coordinating or subordinating conjunction, and how does that affect word order?
men is a coordinating conjunction (like English but). It does not change the usual word order. Subordinating conjunctions (e.g., fordi = because) would send the verb to the end of the clause, but men leaves it in second position.
What’s the difference between rundt and omkring here? Can we swap them?

Both rundt and omkring mean around in a spatial sense.

  • rundt den and omkring den are interchangeable in this sentence, though rundt is more commonly used in everyday speech.
Why is trafikken definite instead of just trafikk?

Using trafikken (“the traffic”) specifies the traffic around that particular park.

  • trafikk alone would refer to traffic in general, not necessarily the traffic near the park.