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Bussen er gratis i dag.

Bussen er gratis i dag.
The bus is free today.
FromLesson 18inHardcore Norwegian

Breakdown of Bussen er gratis i dag.

være
to be
i dag
today
bussen
the bus
gratis
free

Questions & Answers about Bussen er gratis i dag.

What does the suffix -en in bussen indicate, and how do you form the indefinite?
The -en ending marks the definite singular for common-gender (utrum) nouns in Bokmål. Here, buss (“a bus”) + -en = bussen (“the bus”). To say “a bus,” you use the indefinite article en before the noun: en buss.
What gender is the noun buss, and how do you recognize it?
Buss is common gender (utrum) in Bokmål. Common-gender nouns take en as the indefinite article (en buss) and -en as the definite suffix (bussen). Neuter nouns, by contrast, would use et/-et.
Why doesn’t the adjective gratis get an -e or any other ending here?
  1. When adjectives follow er (“is”), they’re used predicatively and remain uninflected.
  2. Gratis is an indeclinable adjective—it never changes form for gender, number, or definiteness.
    So bussen er gratis stays the same regardless of what it describes.
Where do you normally place a time expression like i dag, and can you move it?

In a neutral S-V-O sentence, adverbial phrases such as i dag (“today”) often come after the verb (and object, if any). That’s why Bussen er gratis i dag is standard. You can front i dag, though, using V2 word order:
“I dag er bussen gratis.”
This simply shifts focus onto today.

Is Bussen i dag er gratis also correct, and does it change the nuance?
Yes, it’s grammatical. Fronting bussen i dag highlights “the bus today” as a unit (perhaps contrasted with another day). It’s less neutral but fine for emphasis.
How do you turn this statement into a yes/no question, e.g. “Is the bus free today?”

Invert the subject and verb (the V2 rule for questions):
“Er bussen gratis i dag?”

How is bussen er gratis i dag pronounced?

In Eastern Bokmål pronunciation (approximate IPA):
/ˈbɵ.sən ɛr ˈɡrɑː.tɪs i ˈdɑːɡ/
• u in bus: a front rounded vowel [ɵ] (like “ue” in French “que”).
• r: often an alveolar trill [r].
• a in dag: open [ɑː].
Stress falls on the first syllable of bussen and gratis.

Why is the verb er used here, and what’s its infinitive form?
Er is the present-tense form of å være (“to be”), functioning exactly like English is. Its infinitive is å være. You use er whenever you want to say “is/am/are” in Norwegian.
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