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Questions & Answers about Luften er tørr.
Why is luften used here instead of luft?
luft is a (mass) noun in its indefinite form. Adding the ending -en makes it definite, so luften means the air. You use the definite form when you talk about a specific or contextual air (for example, the air in the room). If you wanted to speak about air in general, you’d leave off -en.
How would you express “air is dry” in general, without saying “the air”?
You’d say:
• Luft er tørr.
Here luft stands in the indefinite form (“air” generically). Note that you don’t add en/ei because luft is normally an uncountable noun when used this way.
What gender is luft, and how do I know which article to use?
luft belongs to the common gender class (formerly feminine, now often just called “common”).
• Its indefinite article is en (though with mass nouns you often omit it).
• Its definite singular ending is -en, giving luften.
Why is the adjective tørr not tørt or tørre here?