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Questions & Answers about Vårt hus er stort.
Why is vårt used instead of vår?
In Norwegian, possessive pronouns agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. hus is a neuter noun, so the neuter form of vår (‘our’) is vårt. For common‐gender nouns you’d use vår (e.g. vår bil, vår bok), but with a neuter noun you add -t to get vårt (e.g. vårt hus).
Why is there no article like et before hus?
When you use a possessive pronoun (like vårt), you omit the indefinite article (en, ei, et) because the possessive pronoun already signals ownership. So instead of et hus (‘a house’) you simply say vårt hus (‘our house’).
Why does stor become stort in this sentence?
Adjectives in Norwegian must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. The base form is stor (‘big’). For neuter singular nouns, you add -t, yielding stort. Since hus is neuter, its adjective form is stort. With common‐gender nouns it stays stor, and in the plural it becomes store.
Do possessive pronouns make a phrase definite, and how does that affect the adjective?
Possessive pronouns (like vårt) are not treated as definite markers in Norwegian grammar for adjective agreement. vårt hus is grammatically indefinite, so the adjective follows the indefinite pattern (neuter -t). If the phrase were truly definite (e.g. det store huset, “the big house”), the adjective would take the definite ending -e.
What’s the difference between vårt hus and huset vårt?
Both mean ‘our house.’ vårt hus uses the possessive pronoun before the noun (attributive). huset vårt uses the noun in its definite form (huset) followed by the possessive pronoun (postposed). The meaning is the same, though vårt hus is more neutral and huset vårt may emphasize that it’s specifically “the house that belongs to us.”
How do you pronounce Vårt hus er stort?
Approximate Eastern Norwegian pronunciation in IPA: [ˈvoːʈː ˈhʉːs ˈær ˈstʊʈː].
- å ([oː]) in vårt sounds like the ‘o’ in English “born.”
- u ([ʉː]) in hus is like German ü or French u.
- o ([ʊ]) in stort is like the ‘u’ in English “put.”
- The r is typically an alveolar trill or tap, and final t is a soft stop.
Is er used for all subjects in Norwegian present tense?
Yes. The present‐tense form of være (‘to be’) is er for all persons: jeg er (I am), du er (you are), han er (he is), vi er (we are), dere er (you pl. are), de er (they are). There’s no subject‐verb ending variation in the present tense.