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Questions & Answers about En lampe lyser under sengen.
What does en mean in En lampe lyser under sengen.?
En is the indefinite article for common-gender nouns in Norwegian, equivalent to English a or an. It tells you that you’re talking about “a lamp” rather than “the lamp.”
Why is it en lampe and not et lampe?
Norwegian nouns have two natural genders in Bokmål: common and neuter. Lampe is a common-gender noun, so it takes en (or optionally ei in more traditional feminine usage), not et, which is reserved for neuter nouns like et hus (“a house”).
Could I also say ei lampe?
Yes. Lampe is grammatically feminine, so you can use ei: ei lampe. Many Norwegians use en universally for common-gender nouns, but using ei lampe is equally correct and signals a feminine form.
How do you form the definite “the bed” from seng?
You add -en to the noun (seng → sengen) to make it definite singular. So sengen = “the bed.” This suffix-based system replaces the separate “the” used in English.
What does the verb lyser mean here?
Lyser is the present-tense form of å lyse, meaning “to emit light” or “to shine.” So en lampe lyser means “a lamp is shining” (i.e., it’s turned on and giving off light).
Could I use skinner instead of lyser?
Not in this context. Lyser describes something producing light (like a lamp or a star). Skinner means “reflects light” or “shines” in the sense of reflecting, as when the sun skinner på fjorden (“the sun reflects on the fjord”).
What is the word order here? Why is under sengen after lyser?
Norwegian follows the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position. Here the subject (En lampe) is first, the verb (lyser) is second, and then the prepositional phrase (under sengen) follows. If you front under sengen, you still keep the verb second:
Under sengen lyser en lampe.
Does En lampe lyser under sengen. mean the lamp is under the bed, or that its light is shining under the bed?
It means the lamp itself is located under the bed and is switched on. If you wanted to say “the light shines under the bed” but the lamp is elsewhere, you’d need to adjust the phrasing, for example:
Lys fra en lampe når under sengen.
How is lyser pronounced?
Roughly “LYU-ser.” In IPA it’s /ˈlyːsər/. The y is like the French u in tu, and the -er ending is a light schwa sound.
How would you say “The lamp is switched on under the bed” in Norwegian?
A natural way is En lampe står på under sengen or En lampe er slått på under sengen. Both express that it’s powered on. “Står på” is a common colloquial way to say “is on.”