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Questions & Answers about Jeg skal se komedien i kveld.
What does skal indicate in this sentence?
In Norwegian, skal is used to form the near future tense or to express intention or obligation. Here it translates to “going to” in English. So jeg skal se means “I’m going to watch.”
Why is it komedien instead of en komedie?
Norwegian has definite and indefinite forms of nouns. En komedie means “a comedy,” whereas komedien is the definite form, “the comedy.” Since you’re referring to a specific comedy (perhaps one you’ve already mentioned), you use komedien.
Why is the phrase i kveld used at the end, and what does it mean?
I kveld literally means “in evening” but idiomatically it means “this evening” or “tonight.” It’s placed at the end because Norwegian follows the V2 rule: the finite verb (skal) stays in second position, and time expressions like i kveld often come later in the sentence.
Could I move i kveld to the beginning of the sentence? If so, what changes?
Yes. If you start with i kveld, you must still keep the verb in second position. You get: I kveld skal jeg se komedien. Note that skal remains the second element, and the subject jeg follows the verb.
How would you translate “I’m going to watch comedies tonight” (plural)?
You would change komedien (definite singular) to the indefinite plural komedier and remove definiteness:
Jeg skal se komedier i kveld.
How do you pronounce komedien, and where is the stress?
It’s pronounced [koo-MEH-dee-en], with primary stress on the second syllable MEH. The final -en sounds like the “en” in “taken.”