Snøen blir tykkere om vinteren.

to become

Breakdown of Snøen blir tykkere om vinteren.

• om: in
• vinteren: the winter
• snøen: the snow

Questions & Answers about Snøen blir tykkere om vinteren.

Why is snøen in the definite form instead of simply snø?

Snøen is the definite singular of snø (snow). In Norwegian you mark definiteness by adding -en (for masculine/feminine nouns). Here the definite form is used to talk about “the snow” as a whole or in general—much like generic statements in English sometimes use “the” (“The snow is cold”).

How do you pronounce the vowel ø in snøen?

The Norwegian ø is a close-mid front rounded vowel, roughly [øː] in IPA. To produce it, round your lips as if saying “oo” but position your tongue forward like an “e.” A rough English approximation is the vowel in British “bird” (non-rhotic), or the French tu. So snøen sounds like [ˈsnøːən], often reduced in casual speech to [ˈsnøːn].

What does blir mean in this context?

Blir is the present tense of the verb bli, which means “to become” or “to get.” In this sentence, blir translates as “becomes”:
Snøen blir tykkere om vinteren.
The snow becomes thicker in winter.

Why is the comparative tykkere used instead of mer tykk?