Meldingen sier at avgangen er avlyst på grunn av vind.

to be

Breakdown of Meldingen sier at avgangen er avlyst på grunn av vind.

• at: that
• si: to say
• vinden: the wind

Questions & Answers about Meldingen sier at avgangen er avlyst på grunn av vind.

What does Meldingen mean, and why is it in the definite form?

Meldingen is the definite singular of melding, meaning the message. In Norwegian you make a noun definite by adding -en/-et/-ene (depending on gender and number). Here the speaker refers to one specific message, so it’s melding + en = meldingen.

What is the function of sier at, and how does word order work in subordinate clauses with at?

sier at means “says that.” at is a subordinating conjunction introducing a dependent clause. Unlike German, Norwegian keeps the finite verb in second position even in subordinate clauses. So after at comes the subject (avgangen), then the verb (er), then the rest:
– at (conjunction)
– avgangen (subject)
– er (verb)
– avlyst på grunn av vind (the rest)

What type of construction is er avlyst? Is it passive or perfect?

er avlyst is a passive perfect (or resultative) construction:
– er = present tense of å være (to be)
– avlyst = past participle of å avlyse (to cancel)
This expresses that the departure has been cancelled (result state). In English you can translate it as either “has been cancelled” or simply “is cancelled.”