Questions & Answers about Læreren beskriver historien.
Norwegian often uses a postfix definite article rather than a separate word.
• en lærer (a teacher) → læreren (the teacher)
• ei/en historie (a story) → historien (the story)
You form the definite singular by adding -en (for masculine/feminine/common nouns) or -a (for some feminine nouns in Bokmål) to the noun’s end.
The preterite (simple past) of å beskrive is beskrev.
• Present: Læreren beskriver historien. (The teacher describes the story.)
• Past: Læreren beskrev historien. (The teacher described the story.)
For perfect tense you use the auxiliary har + supine beskrevet: Læreren har beskrevet historien.
You invert the subject and the verb (the V2 rule in questions):
Beskriver læreren historien?
This literally reads “Describes the teacher the story?” but means “Does the teacher describe the story?”
In a main clause, ikke typically follows the finite verb:
Læreren beskriver ikke historien.
= “The teacher does not describe the story.”
Approximate transcription: /ˈlæːrəɾən bəsˈkriːʋər hɪsˈtoːriɛn/
Stress falls on the first syllable of each content word:
• LÆ-re-ren
• be-SKRIV-er
• his-TOR-i-en
Feminine nouns in Bokmål can take either ei or en as the indefinite article.
• ei historie is the traditional feminine form.
• en historie is common in speech.
Both forms share the same definite singular historien.