Breakdown of Jeg legger plast og papir i to forskjellige skuffer i kjelleren.
jeg
I
i
in
og
and
legge
to put
to
two
kjelleren
the basement
skuffen
the drawer
plasten
the plastic
papiret
the paper
forskjellig
different
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Questions & Answers about Jeg legger plast og papir i to forskjellige skuffer i kjelleren.
What does legger mean here, and what tense/form is it?
legger is the present tense of the verb legge (“to put” or “to place”). In Norwegian the present tense covers both simple present and present continuous, so Jeg legger… can mean “I put…”, “I’m putting…”, or “I do put…” depending on context.
Why isn’t there an article before plast and papir?
Plast and papir are treated as uncountable (mass) nouns in this context—you’re talking about the materials in general, not individual items. Norwegian normally omits the indefinite article with mass nouns, just like English does with “water” or “sand.”
Why is the adjective forskjellige inflected with an –e ending instead of staying forskjellig?
Adjectives in Norwegian agree in number and definiteness with the noun they describe. Here skuffer is plural indefinite, so forskjellige takes the plural indefinite ending –e. Together to forskjellige skuffer means “two different drawers.”
Why is skuffer used instead of the definite plural skuffene?
Because you’re saying “two drawers” (indefinite plural) rather than “the drawers” (definite plural). When you use a numeral like to, you keep the noun in its bare plural form: to skuffer, not to skuffene.
Why does kjelleren appear in the definite form, and what does i kjelleren indicate?
Kjelleren is the definite form of kjeller (“basement”), with the ending –en meaning “the basement.” I kjelleren means “in the basement,” referring to a specific, known basement (for example, the one under your house).
Why are there two instances of i in i to forskjellige skuffer i kjelleren?
They introduce two nested prepositional phrases:
- i to forskjellige skuffer (“in two different drawers”)
- i kjelleren (“in the basement”)
Each phrase needs its own i to mark the location.
Is the order plast og papir fixed? Could I say papir og plast instead?
You can swap them freely: Jeg legger papir og plast… is perfectly natural. Norwegian allows flexible ordering of direct objects, so you’d only change the order to emphasize one over the other.
Does this sentence imply a one-time action or a habitual routine?
The present tense in Norwegian can express both. Context tells you whether it’s a single event (“now I’m putting…”) or a habit (“I always put…”). If you want to stress habit, you might add an adverb like alltid (“always”).
How would I replace plast og papir with a pronoun in Norwegian?
Use dem for a plural direct object pronoun:
Jeg legger dem i to forskjellige skuffer i kjelleren.
This means “I put them in two different drawers in the basement.”
Can I drop to and just say i forskjellige skuffer? What’s the difference?
Yes. Jeg legger plast og papir i forskjellige skuffer i kjelleren. means “I put plastic and paper in different drawers in the basement,” without specifying the exact number. Adding to (“two”) makes it clear there are exactly two drawers.