Været er kjølig.

to be

Breakdown of Været er kjølig.

• været: the weather
• kjølig: cool

Questions & Answers about Været er kjølig.

Why does Været end with -et?

In Norwegian, you form the definite singular neuter by adding -et to the noun. The base form is vær (“weather”), so været literally means the weather.

Why don’t we say en vær or et vær for “weather”?

Vær is treated as an uncountable (mass) noun, so you don’t use an indefinite article (en or et) with it. Instead, you normally either put it in the definite form (været) or refer to it with det in a general statement (e.g. Det er kjølig).

What does er mean in this sentence?

er is the present-tense form of the verb å være (to be). So Været er kjølig = The weather is cool.

Why doesn’t kjølig get a -t ending like kaldt?

Most adjectives ending in -ig (for example kjølig, rolig, viktig) are invariant in neuter singular and keep the same form in predicate position. They don’t add -t.