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Questions & Answers about Telefonen er ødelagt.
Why does telefonen end with -en, and what does this form mean?
telefonen is the definite singular form of the noun telefon (“phone”). In Bokmål Norwegian, you add -en (for masculine/feminine nouns) to make it definite.
- telefon = “a phone”
- telefonen = “the phone”
What part of speech is er and why is it used here?
er is the present‐tense form of the verb å være (“to be”). Here it functions as a copula linking the subject (telefonen) with its predicate (ødelagt), so the structure is:
Subject + er + predicate adjective.
Is ødelagt an adjective or a verb form in this sentence?
ødelagt is technically the past participle of the verb å ødelegge (“to destroy, break”). In Telefonen er ødelagt, it behaves like a predicate adjective describing the state of the phone (i.e. “the phone is broken”).
Does Telefonen er ødelagt express the passive voice?
Not in the active/passive sense of an action being performed right now. Instead it’s a “stative passive,” describing the result state of the phone. If you wanted to focus on the action that broke it, you’d say:
- Telefonen ble ødelagt (“The phone was broken.”)