Vinden blåser bladene ned.

The wind blows the leaves down.

Breakdown of Vinden blåser bladene ned.

• blåse: to blow
• 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”).

How does object placement change when using a pronoun instead of bladene?

Pronoun objects go immediately after the verb, then the particle. So you say:
Vinden blåser dem ned
(“The wind blows them down.”)
You would not say blåser ned dem.

How do you form the definite plural bladene, and what is the indefinite plural?

Blad is a neuter noun. The indefinite plural is blader (“leaves”). To form the definite plural, add -ene:
blad → bladene (“the leaves”).

Why is vinden used instead of vind, and could you use the indefinite form?

Vind is the indefinite form (“a wind”). Vinden adds the definite suffix -en, giving “the wind.” You could say En vind blåser bladene ned (“A wind blows the leaves down”), but Vinden blåser bladene ned is more neutral when talking about wind in general.

How do you turn this into a yes/no question (“Does the wind blow the leaves down?”)?

Invert the verb and subject and keep object + particle:
Blåser vinden bladene ned?