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Breakdown of Brevet lukter parfyme, og postmannen sier at han aldri har luktet noe lignende.
han
he
ha
to have
og
and
at
that
noe
something
si
to say
aldri
never
lignende
similar
brevet
the letter
lukte
to smell
parfymen
the perfume
postmannen
the mailman
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Questions & Answers about Brevet lukter parfyme, og postmannen sier at han aldri har luktet noe lignende.
Why is lukter used here instead of a form like lukte?
Lukter is the present-tense, third-person singular form of lukte. In Norwegian, verbs don’t change form for gender or number beyond this single –r ending. So with brevet (the letter) as the subject, you say brevet lukter (“the letter smells”).
Does lukter mean “to smell” (i.e. to sniff) or “to smell of”?
Here it means “to emit a smell” or “to smell of.” When something lukter something, it gives off that scent. If a person sniffs, you’d say lukter på: e.g. Hun lukter på blomsten (“She smells the flower”).
Why isn’t there an article before parfyme?
Parfyme is an uncountable noun here (you don’t count “one perfume, two perfumes” in this context), so it appears without an article for “parfyme” in general. If you wanted “a bottle of perfume,” you’d say en flaske parfyme.
Why does the second clause use har luktet (perfect) instead of the simple past luktet?
In Norwegian, the present perfect (har + past participle) often expresses life experiences up to now—just like in English. Aldri har han luktet noe lignende means “He has never smelled anything like it.” If you used simple past—aldri luktet han noe lignende—it would be less idiomatic and might imply a single past event.
What does noe lignende mean?
Noe lignende literally means “something similar.” Together with aldri it forms “never anything like it.” Noe is an indefinite pronoun (“anything”), and lignende is an adjective meaning “similar.”
Why is there no inversion in …at han aldri har luktet noe lignende even though aldri is at the start of that clause?
In subordinate clauses introduced by at, Norwegian does not follow the main‐clause verb‐second (V2) word order. So even though aldri is fronted, the finite verb (har) stays after the subject (han), mirroring English subordinate‐clause word order.
How does word order work in the first clause Brevet lukter parfyme?
This is a main clause, so Norwegian follows V2: the finite verb (lukter) must occupy the second position. Here the first element is the subject (Brevet), then the verb, then the object (parfyme). You could front something else (e.g. Parfymen lukter godt), but the verb still stays second.