Jeg ser refleksjonen i vinduet.

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Breakdown of Jeg ser refleksjonen i vinduet.

• se: to see
• i: in
• vinduet: the window

Questions & Answers about Jeg ser refleksjonen i vinduet.

Why is the definite article attached to the noun as a suffix (as in refleksjonen and vinduet) instead of using a separate word like English “the”?

In Norwegian Bokmål the definite article is not a separate word placed before the noun. Instead, you add a suffix to the noun itself.
• For masculine and feminine nouns you add -en (refleksjon → refleksjonen).
• For neuter nouns you add -et (vindu → vinduet).

How do I know which suffix (-en or -et) to use?

You choose the suffix based on the noun’s gender:
• Masculine/feminine nouns take -en (e.g. bil → bilen, refleksjon → refleksjonen)
• Neuter nouns take -et (e.g. hus → huset, vindu → vinduet)

Why doesn’t the verb ser change its form for different subjects (I, you, he, etc.)?

Norwegian verbs only inflect for tense, not for person or number. That means ser stays the same for jeg, du, han, vi, dere, de:
• jeg ser
• du ser
• han ser
…and so on.

Can I drop the subject pronoun jeg here, like in Spanish or Italian?

No. In Norwegian you must include the subject pronoun because the verb form alone does not tell you who is doing the action. You need jeg ser, not just ser.

Why is the preposition used here? Could I say instead?