Questions & Answers about Faren drikker kaffe.
What does Faren mean, and why is there an -en ending?
Faren is the definite singular of far (father). In Norwegian, you don’t use a separate word like the; instead you attach the definite article as a suffix. For a common-gender noun like far, you add -en:
far (a father) → faren (the father).
How do you say “a father drinks coffee” instead of “the father drinks coffee”?
Use the indefinite article en before the noun:
En far drikker kaffe.
Here en = “a” and far remains in its basic (indefinite) form.
What is the infinitive of drikker, and how is its present tense formed?
The infinitive is å drikke (to drink). To form the present tense, most Norwegian verbs simply add -r to the infinitive stem:
drikke → drikker (“drinks”).
Why is there no article before kaffe in Faren drikker kaffe?
When talking about coffee in general (a mass or uncountable noun), Norwegian omits the article:
drikker kaffe = “drinks coffee” (in general).
If you mean one cup, you’d say drikker en kaffe (“drinks a coffee”).
When would you choose drikker en kaffe rather than drikker kaffe?
What is the typical word order in a Norwegian main clause?
How do you turn Faren drikker kaffe into a yes/no question?
Invert the verb and the subject:
Drikker faren kaffe?
(Does the father drink coffee?)
How would you say “My father drinks coffee”?
You can say Min far drikker kaffe. Here min is the possessive adjective placed before the noun.
Alternatively, colloquially you might hear Faren min drikker kaffe (“my father drinks coffee”), where faren is definite and min follows as a post-positive possessive.
Why is kaffe not capitalized in Norwegian?
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