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Jeg ser hennes bil ved inngangen.

Jeg ser hennes bil ved inngangen.
I see her car at the entrance.
FromLesson 15inHardcore Norwegian
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Breakdown of Jeg ser hennes bil ved inngangen.

jeg
I
bilen
the car
se
to see
ved
at
inngangen
the entrance
hennes
her

Questions & Answers about Jeg ser hennes bil ved inngangen.

What does ser mean in this sentence and how is it conjugated?

Ser is the present tense form of the verb å se (“to see”). The full conjugation is:
Infinitive: se
Present: ser
Past: så
Past participle: sett
So jeg ser simply means “I see.”

Why is hennes used instead of sin in hennes bil?

Norwegian distinguishes between reflexive and non-reflexive possessive pronouns.

  • Sin is reflexive and refers back to the subject (e.g. Hun ser sin bil – “She sees her own car”).
  • Hennes is non-reflexive and refers to someone else’s possession when the subject is different (e.g. Jeg ser hennes bil – “I see her car,” where “her” is not the speaker).
Why is there no article like en before bil?
A possessive pronoun (here hennes) functions as the determiner of the noun, so you drop the indefinite article (en/ei/et). Just like in English you say “her car” rather than “her a car.”
Why is inngangen in its definite form, and what does ved inngangen mean?

Inngang means “entrance.” Adding -en makes it definite: inngangen = “the entrance.”
The preposition ved means “by” or “at,” and with a definite noun you don’t add another article. Thus ved inngangen translates to “by (the) entrance.”

Why is the word order Subject-Verb-Object-Place in this sentence?

Standard Norwegian main clauses follow SVO order, then adverbials of place or time. So:
Subject (Jeg) – Verb (ser) – Object (hennes bil) – Place (ved inngangen).

How would I turn this into a yes/no question, like “Do I see her car by the entrance?”?

Invert the subject and the verb:
Ser jeg hennes bil ved inngangen?
For past tense “Did you see her car by the entrance?” use the past of se and invert:
Så du hennes bil ved inngangen?

What’s the difference between saying ved inngangen and i inngangen?
  • Ved inngangen = “by/at the entrance” (outside or next to the doorway).
  • I inngangen = “in the entrance” (inside the foyer or entrance hall). The choice depends on whether you mean outside next to it or actually inside it.

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