Breakdown of Støyen fra toalettet gjør det vanskelig å høre meldingen om forsinkelsen.
om
about
å
to
fra
from
det
it
vanskelig
difficult
høre
to hear
gjøre
to make
forsinkelsen
the delay
meldingen
the message
støyen
the noise
toalettet
the toilet
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Questions & Answers about Støyen fra toalettet gjør det vanskelig å høre meldingen om forsinkelsen.
What does støyen mean, and why does it end with -en?
Støy means “noise.” The suffix -en makes it the definite form, so støyen translates as “the noise.”
Why is fra used after støyen?
fra is a preposition meaning “from.” It indicates the source of the noise: støyen fra toalettet = “the noise from the toilet.”
What does toalettet mean, and why does it have -et at the end?
Toalett means “toilet.” The ending -et is the neuter singular definite article, so toalettet means “the toilet.”
Explain the structure gjør det vanskelig å høre.
- gjør is the present tense of gjøre, “to make” or “to do.”
- det is a dummy pronoun acting as a placeholder subject.
- vanskelig is the adjective “difficult.”
- å høre is the infinitive “to hear.”
Together, gjør det vanskelig å høre literally means “makes it difficult to hear.”
Why is det needed in gjør det vanskelig å høre?
In Norwegian, when you cause an action (here “hearing something”) to be difficult or easy, you often use a dummy det before the adjective. It doesn’t refer to a specific noun; it just fills the subject position.
What is the function of å before høre?
å is the infinitive marker in Norwegian, equivalent to English to in “to hear.” You need å before most bare infinitives (except after certain modal verbs).
What does meldingen om forsinkelsen mean, and why is om used there?
- melding means “message,” and meldingen is its definite form: “the message.”
- om means “about.”
- forsinkelse means “delay,” and forsinkelsen is “the delay.”
So meldingen om forsinkelsen = “the message about the delay.”
Why is forsinkelsen in its definite form instead of just forsinkelse?
Because the sentence refers to a specific delay that the message is about, Norwegian uses the definite form forsinkelsen (“the delay”) rather than the indefinite en forsinkelse (“a delay”).