Jeg ser et bilde på veggen.

I see a picture on the wall.

Breakdown of Jeg ser et bilde på veggen.

• jeg: I
• se: to see
• et: a
• på: on
• bildet: the picture
• veggen: the wall

Questions & Answers about Jeg ser et bilde på veggen.

What’s the difference between ser and ser på?

• å se (conjugated ser) means to see something—take a direct object:
  jeg ser et bilde = I see a picture
• å se på (conjugated ser på) means to look at something—verb plus på:
  jeg ser på bildet = I’m looking at the picture
  In our sentence we use ser because it simply means “see,” not “look at.”

Why do we say et bilde and not just bilde or en bilde?

• Norwegian requires an article or determiner with countable nouns—you cannot say jeg ser bilde without one.
• bilde is a neuter noun, so its indefinite article is et.
• en bilde would be wrong because en is for common‐gender nouns, not neuter.

Why is the preposition på used here, and not i or something else?

• på = on when something is on a surface (wall, table, floor)
• i = in when something is inside another object (box, house)
  A picture hangs on the surface of the wall, so you say på veggen.

Why is veggen in its definite form, and how would you say on a wall instead?

• veggen (with ending -en) is the definite form: the wall.
• After prepositions we often use the definite form for a specific, known object: på veggen = on the wall.
• To say on a wall (any wall), use the indefinite form: på en vegg.

What is the word order in this sentence? Is it always Subject–Verb–Object?

• Basic declarative word order is Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) and Norwegian follows the V2 rule: the finite verb stands in second position.
• Here: Jeg (Subject) + ser (Verb) + et bilde (Object) + på veggen (Adverbial of place).
• If you move an adverbial to the front, the verb still remains second, then the subject follows it.

How do you turn this sentence into a yes/no question?

• Invert the verb and subject (verb–subject inversion).
  Statement: Jeg ser et bilde på veggen.
  Question: Ser jeg et bilde på veggen? = Do I see a picture on the wall?

How would you say I don’t see a picture on the wall in Norwegian?

• Add the negation ikke after the verb and use noe with an indefinite object:
  Jeg ser ikke noe bilde på veggen. = I don’t see any picture on the wall.

If I want to say I’m looking at a picture on the wall, how would I phrase that?

• Use å se på (to look at) instead of just å se:
  Jeg ser på et bilde på veggen. = I’m looking at a picture on the wall.