Breakdown of Skyene blir mørkere, og snart begynner det å regne.
å
to
og
and
det
it
snart
soon
begynne
to start
skyen
the cloud
bli
to get
mørk
dark
regne
to rain
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Questions & Answers about Skyene blir mørkere, og snart begynner det å regne.
What does blir mean in Skyene blir mørkere? Isn’t er more common for “are”?
blir is the present tense of å bli, which means “to become.” Here it works like English “get” in “the clouds are getting darker.” If you used er (“are”), you’d have a static description (“the clouds are dark”) instead of expressing change.
Why is the adjective mørkere used here, not mer mørk?
Most one-syllable adjectives in Norwegian form the comparative by adding -ere: mørk → mørkere (“dark” → “darker”). You only use mer (“more”) with some longer or irregular adjectives (for example, mer interessant).
Why is skyene used instead of skyer?
skyene is the definite plural form of en sky (“a cloud”). Indefinite plural is skyer (“clouds”), while skyene means “the clouds.” Since we’re talking about specific clouds gathering, the definite form is used.
Why does the sentence use det before å regne in det å regne?
Weather verbs like å regne (“to rain”) don’t have a natural grammatical subject in Norwegian, so you insert a “dummy” det (it). Thus det begynner å regne literally is “it begins to rain.”
What is the function of å in å regne?
å is the infinitive marker in Norwegian, equivalent to English to. All verbs in infinitive take å before them: å spise, å lese, å regne.
Why is snart placed before begynner and not somewhere else?
In main clauses Norwegian often follows the V2 rule: one element (subject, adverb, etc.) goes first, then the finite verb. Here the subject det comes first, then the adverb snart, then the verb begynner. You can move snart around for emphasis, but pre-verbal position is common.
Is the comma necessary before og in Skyene blir mørkere, og snart begynner det å regne?
The comma before og (and) linking two independent clauses is optional in modern written Norwegian but often used for clarity or a natural pause. Both
Skyene blir mørkere og snart begynner det å regne.
and
Skyene blir mørkere, og snart begynner det å regne.
are acceptable.
Could you also say Det begynner snart å regne instead of Snart begynner det å regne?
Yes. Det begynner snart å regne is perfectly correct. Adverbs like snart can appear before or after the finite verb in Norwegian, though putting them right before the verb (as here) is very common.