Kysten er vakker om morgenen.

The coast is beautiful in the morning.

Breakdown of Kysten er vakker om morgenen.

• være: to be
• vakker: beautiful
• morgenen: the morning
• om: in
• kysten: the coast

Questions & Answers about Kysten er vakker om morgenen.

What does kysten mean and why the -en suffix?

kysten translates to the coast. In Norwegian Bokmål you form the definite singular by adding a suffix to the noun. The base form is kyst (a coast). Because kyst is a common-gender noun (en kyst), you add -en to get kysten (the coast).

How do you pronounce kysten er vakker om morgenen?

IPA: [ˈçʏstən ɛːr ˈvɑkːər ɔm mɔˈɾeːnən]
Approximation for English speakers:

• kysten: “SHYU-sten” (sh as in “ship,” yu like “you”)
• er: “air”
• vakker: “VAK-ker” (stress on first syllable)
• om: “om” (like “hum” without the h)
• morgenen: “mor-REH-nen” (stress on REH, roll the r slightly)

Why doesn’t vakker take an ending like adjectives normally do with definite nouns?

Because vakker is used predicatively (it follows the verb er). Predicative adjectives in Norwegian remain in their base form regardless of definiteness. Only attributive adjectives (those directly modifying a noun) get an extra -e in the definite: e.g. den vakre kysten.

How would I say the beautiful coast (with an attributive adjective)?

Use the article den, inflect the adjective, and keep the noun’s definite suffix:
den vakre kysten
— den (the) + vakr-e (beautiful-e) + kyst-en (coast-the).

How do you translate in the morning? Why om morgenen and not i morgen?

• i morgen means tomorrow.
• To say in the morning you use om
  • the definite form of the time-of-day noun: om morgenen.
    Other examples: om kvelden (in the evening), om natten (at night).

Why is morgenen definite? Can I say om morgen?

Time expressions with om require the definite form of the noun. So you need morgenen. om morgen is not standard in Bokmål; always use om morgenen.

How would I form a question like “Is the coast beautiful in the morning?”

Use inversion (verb-subject order for yes/no questions):
Er kysten vakker om morgenen?
Here er (is) comes first, then kysten (the coast), and the rest follows.

Can I start the sentence with om morgenen to emphasize the time? How does word order change?

Yes. Norwegian follows the V2 rule: if you begin with an adverbial like om morgenen, the verb must be the second element. The subject then follows:
Om morgenen er kysten vakker.

What’s the difference between om morgenen and hver morgen?

• om morgenen = “in the morning” as a general time frame or habit (e.g. the coast tends to be beautiful in the mornings).
• hver morgen = “every morning,” stressing each individual morning.
  So Kysten er vakker om morgenen describes a general fact; Kysten er vakker hver morgen emphasizes that it happens every single morning.