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Questions & Answers about Døren knirker om kvelden.
Why is døren used instead of dør?
døren is the definite singular form of dør (a door). In Norwegian, the article attaches to the end of the noun: dør = “a door,” døren = “the door.”
What is the function of om in om kvelden?
om here is a time preposition meaning “in” or “during” when referring to general parts of the day. Thus om kvelden = “in the evening” (habitually).
How is om kvelden different from i kveld?
om kvelden describes something that happens regularly or generally in the evenings (every evening). i kveld means “this evening” or “tonight,” referring to a specific upcoming or current evening.
Why is the time expression om kvelden placed at the end of the sentence?
Norwegian main clauses follow V2 word order: the finite verb must be in second position. Time and place adverbials often come after the verb or at the end, unless you put them first for emphasis.
What does knirker mean and what kind of verb is it?
knirker is the present tense of the intransitive verb knirke (“to creak”). It describes a sound the door makes; there is no direct object because intransitive verbs don’t take one.
What tense is knirker, and can it also express habitual actions?
It’s present tense. In Norwegian, the present tense can indicate both actions happening right now and habitual or repeated actions (e.g. something that happens every evening).
Why is there no pronoun like det (“it”) at the beginning?
Norwegian doesn’t use a dummy subject “it” for impersonal verbs. When there’s a clear subject (here døren), you start directly with it.
Could you say døra knirker om kvelden instead of døren?
Yes. døra is the feminine definite form used in many dialects and in Nynorsk. In standard Bokmål døren is more common, but døra is also accepted in informal Bokmål.