Breakdown of Arrangementet er en bursdagsfest med vennene våre.
være
to be
en
a
med
with
vår
our
vennen
the friend
arrangementet
the event
bursdagsfesten
the birthday party
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Questions & Answers about Arrangementet er en bursdagsfest med vennene våre.
Why does Arrangementet end with -et rather than standing alone as Arrangement?
In Norwegian Bokmål, neuter nouns form the definite singular by adding -et. Here, Arrangement is a neuter noun meaning “event” or “arrangement,” and Arrangementet means “the event.”
What is bursdagsfest, and how is it constructed?
Bursdagsfest is a compound noun made of bursdag (“birthday,” masculine) + fest (“party,” common gender). Compounding is very productive in Norwegian: the first element specifies the second.
Why is there an en before bursdagsfest?
Bursdagsfest is a common-gender noun in its indefinite singular form. We use en (not et) to say “a birthday party.”
Why isn’t bursdagsfest in the definite form (e.g. bursdagsfesten)?
Because it is part of a predicative expression after er (“is”). The main subject Arrangementet is already definite, so bursdagsfest remains indefinite: “The event is a birthday party.”
What role does med play in this sentence?
Med means “with.” Here it introduces the participants of the party: “with our friends.”
Why is vennene written with -ene and not just venner?
Venn (“friend”) is a common-gender noun. Its definite plural form is created by adding -ene, so vennene means “the friends.”
Why do we use våre after vennene and not våre before it?
Actually, våre (“our”) is a possessive adjective that goes after the noun when the noun is in its definite form: vennene våre = “our friends.” If the noun were indefinite, you’d say våre venner.
What’s the difference between vår, vårt, and våre?
These are all forms of vår (“our”):
- vår for common-gender singular nouns (e.g., vår bok “our book”)
- vårt for neuter singular nouns (e.g., vårt hus “our house”)
- våre for all plurals (e.g., våre venner “our friends”)
Could I start the sentence with En bursdagsfest med vennene våre er arrangementet?
Grammatically yes, but it sounds awkward. Norwegian prefers placing the definite subject (Arrangementet) first. If you want emphasis on the party, you could say Det er en bursdagsfest med vennene våre (som arrangementet er), but that’s more complex.
Why is er used here, and could I use another verb?
Er is the present-tense form of å være (“to be”), used for definitions or identifications (“X is Y”). You could use blir (“becomes”) to emphasize change: Arrangementet blir en bursdagsfest (“The event turns into a birthday party”), but that shifts the meaning.