Vinden blåser bladene ned.

to blow

Breakdown of Vinden blåser bladene ned.

• vinden: the wind
• bladet: the leaf
• ned: down

Questions & Answers about Vinden blåser bladene ned.

What is the infinitive form of the verb in the sentence, and how do we form blåser?

The infinitive is blåse (“to blow”). In Norwegian Bokmål, most verbs ending in -e form the present tense by adding -r. So blåse → blåser (“blows”).

How do you form the past tense (“blew”) of blåse, and how would the sentence look?

The preterite (past) of blåse is blåste. Replace blåser with blåste to get:
Vinden blåste bladene ned
(“The wind blew the leaves down.”)

What does ned mean, and is it part of the verb?

ned means “down.” Here it’s a separable prefix (particle) of the verb blåse ned (“to blow down”). In main clauses you split it off and place it at the end: blåser … ned.

Why is the order blåser bladene ned instead of blåser ned bladene?

With separable-prefix verbs plus a noun object, the usual word order in a main clause is:
verb + object + particle
Hence Vinden blåser bladene ned. If you front the particle (blåser ned bladene), it’s still grammatically okay but puts extra emphasis on the direction (“down”).