Hun har en grønn bok.

She has a green book.

Breakdown of Hun har en grønn bok.

• hun: she
• ha: to have
• en: a
• boken: the book

Questions & Answers about Hun har en grønn bok.

Why doesn’t the adjective grønn take a -t ending in en grønn bok?

In Norwegian Bokmål, adjectives agree with the gender of the noun. bok is a common-gender (n-word) noun, so in the indefinite singular it remains uninflected: en grønn bok. Neuter (t-word) nouns, however, take -t, as in et grønt hus.

Why is the indefinite article en used instead of et?

Norwegian has two indefinite articles:
• en for common-gender nouns
• et for neuter-gender nouns
Since bok is a common-gender noun, the correct article is en.

What exactly is “common gender” in Norwegian?

In Bokmål, there are two grammatical genders:
• Common (en-words): covers both masculine and feminine nouns
• Neuter (et-words): a separate class
Common-gender nouns use en (or optionally ei for feminine) in the singular indefinite.

Could I say ei grønn bok instead of en grønn bok?

Yes. bok is inherently a feminine noun, so you can use the feminine article ei: ei grønn bok. In modern Bokmål it’s also common to use the “common” article en.

What is the standard word order for an indefinite noun phrase with an adjective in Norwegian?