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Legen skriver resepten i dag.

Legen skriver resepten i dag.
The doctor writes the prescription today.
FromLesson 20inHardcore Norwegian
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Breakdown of Legen skriver resepten i dag.

i dag
today
skrive
to write
legen
the doctor
resepten
the prescription

Questions & Answers about Legen skriver resepten i dag.

Why do both legen and resepten end with -en? Where is the separate word for the?

In Norwegian the definite article is attached as a suffix. For most masculine and feminine nouns, -en marks the singular definite form:
• en lege = a doctor
• legen = the doctor
Similarly:
• en resept = a prescription
• resepten = the prescription
There is no separate word for the in these cases.

What tense is skriver, and does it mean writes or is writing?

skriver is the present tense of å skrive (to write). Norwegian does not distinguish between simple present and present continuous like English does. So skriver can mean both:

  • The doctor writes the prescription (habitual or general fact)
  • The doctor is writing the prescription (right now)
    Context—and time adverbs such as i dag—tell you which sense is intended.
Why is i dag placed at the end of the sentence? What is the typical word order?

Norwegian main clauses obey the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position. In Legen skriver resepten i dag you have:
1 Subject (Legen)
2 Verb (skriver)
3 Object (resepten)
4 Time adverbial (i dag)
Time adverbials and other elements normally follow the object unless they are moved to the first position.

Can I put i dag at the beginning? Will I have to change anything else?

Yes. If you place i dag first, the verb still stays in second position, so you invert subject and verb:
I dag skriver legen resepten.
The meaning is the same, but you emphasize today.

How would I say the doctor will write the prescription today in Norwegian?

Use a future construction with skal (shall/will):
Legen skal skrive resepten i dag.
This clearly marks the action as happening later today rather than right now.

What is the infinitive of skriver, and how do I form the past tense?

The infinitive is å skrive (to write).

  • Preterite (simple past): skrev
    • Legen skrev resepten i går. – “The doctor wrote the prescription yesterday.”
  • Supine (for perfect tense): skrevet
    • Legen har skrevet resepten i dag. – “The doctor has written the prescription today.”
Why isn’t there an extra preposition or object marker before resepten?
Norwegian is an SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) language with no requirement for a preposition or marker before a direct object. resepten is simply the direct object of skriver, so it follows the verb directly.

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