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Breakdown of Meldingen blir skrevet av sjefen.
sjefen
the boss
meldingen
the message
bli skrevet
to be written
av
by
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Questions & Answers about Meldingen blir skrevet av sjefen.
How is the passive voice formed in this sentence?
The passive is built with the auxiliary verb blir (present of bli) plus the past participle skrevet. So blir skrevet literally means “is being written.”
Why does Norwegian use blir skrevet instead of er skrevet here?
Both are passives in present tense, but with a nuance:
- blir skrevet focuses on the ongoing action (“is being written”).
- er skrevet emphasizes the state or result (“is written”/“has been written”).
Could I instead use the –s passive and say Meldingen skrives av sjefen?
Yes. Norwegian also allows the –s passive on the main verb:
“Meldingen skrives av sjefen.”
This is equivalent to blir skrevet and means “The message is written by the boss.”
Why is the agent introduced by av?
In Norwegian passives the performer of the action is marked with the preposition av, just like English uses “by.”
Why is meldingen in its definite form (with –en)?
Because we’re talking about a specific message (“the message”). In Norwegian you add –en (for masculine/feminine nouns) to make a noun definite.
What is the active-voice equivalent of this sentence?
The active version flips subject and object:
“Sjefen skriver meldingen.”
(“The boss writes the message.”)
Why does meldingen appear before blir?
Norwegian follows the V2 (verb-second) rule: the finite verb (blir) must be in second position. The definite subject meldingen comes first, then blir, then the rest of the clause.
How do I pronounce sjefen?
sjefen is pronounced [ˈʃeː.fən]. The letter combination sj represents the /ʃ/ sound (like English “sh”), and the –en ending is a schwa /ən/.