Programvaren er viktig for sikkerheten.

to be

Breakdown of Programvaren er viktig for sikkerheten.

• viktig: important
• for: for
• sikkerheten: the security

Questions & Answers about Programvaren er viktig for sikkerheten.

What does the -en suffix in programvaren indicate?

In Norwegian Bokmål, the definite singular of a common-gender noun is marked with -en. So programvare (“software”) becomes programvaren, meaning “the software.” Since it’s already definite, you don’t use a separate article (en, ei, et) before it.

Why isn’t there an indefinite article before programvaren?

Because programvaren is in a definite form (it ends with -en). If you want to talk about software in general, you either drop the suffix and say programvare (no article) or, in a countable sense, you’d choose a different noun like et program (“a program”) or en programvarepakke (“a software package”). As a mass noun, programvare normally stands without en.

Why doesn’t the adjective viktig change form after the verb er?

Adjectives in predicate position (after a linking verb like er) stay in their base form in Norwegian. You say programvaren er viktig, not viktige or viktigere. Only attributive adjectives (before a noun) take endings:
• en viktig fil
• et viktig dokument
• viktige oppdateringer