Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Puten ligger på gulvet ved trappen. - The cushion is on the floor by the stairs.

In Norwegian you mark definiteness with a suffix rather than a separate word before the noun. Pute (indefinite) means “a pillow,” while puten (definite) means “the pillow.” Here we’re talking about a specific pillow, so we attach -en (common-gender ending) to make it definite.

How do I know which ending to use for definite singular nouns like puten, gulvet and trappen?

Norwegian nouns have two main genders in Bokmål: common (en-words) and neuter (et-words).
• Common-gender nouns (like pute, trapp) take -en in the definite singular: puten, trappen.
• Neuter nouns (like gulv) take -et in the definite singular: gulvet.
You learn a noun’s gender either by memorizing it or checking a dictionary; the ending tells you which gender it is.

What does the verb ligger mean here, and why not just use er (“is”)?

Ligge literally means “to lie” (as in “to lie flat”) and is used in Norwegian to describe the location of horizontally placed objects or people.
• Puten ligger på gulvet = “The pillow is lying on the floor.”
You could say Puten er på gulvet (“The pillow is on the floor”) and it’s still correct, but ligger gives extra information about how it rests (flat/lying).

Why do we use på gulvet instead of i gulvet?

På covers surfaces (“on”), while i covers interiors (“in”). Floors are surfaces you place things onto, so you say på gulvet (“on the floor”). I gulvet would suggest something is embedded inside the floor.

What’s the difference between ved trappen and på trappen?

• Ved trappen = “by/next to the stairs,” implying adjacency.
• På trappen = “on the stairs,” implying something is standing or lying on the stair steps themselves. Here we want to say the pillow is beside the stairs, so we choose ved.

Can I move ved trappen to the beginning of the sentence? If so, what changes?

Yes. Starting with a prepositional phrase triggers the V2 (verb-second) word order in Norwegian:
Ved trappen ligger puten på gulvet.
Notice the verb ligger comes immediately after ved trappen, before the subject puten.

How would you ask “Where is the pillow?” in Norwegian?

You can use either:
Hvor ligger puten?
or more generally
Hvor er puten?
Both mean “Where is the pillow?” but Hvor ligger puten? focuses on its lying position.

Are there synonyms for ved in this context?

Yes. Depending on nuance you could say:
• nær trappen (“near the stairs”)
• inntil trappen (“right up against the stairs”)
• like ved trappen (“just by the stairs”)
Each carries a slightly different sense of proximity.

Is it ever acceptable to drop the definite suffixes and say just gulv or trapp when giving locations?

In a full sentence, you normally keep the definite form if you mean “the floor” or “the stairs.” However, in very informal notes or headings you might see something like Pute på gulv ved trapp, but that isn’t standard Bokmål grammar. In proper sentences, you use gulvet and trappen.