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Questions & Answers about Barna bråker når de leker.
What does barna mean?
Barna is the definite plural of barn (“child”).
- Indefinite singular: et barn (“a child”)
- Indefinite plural: barn (“children”)
- Definite plural: barna (“the children”)
What does bråker mean?
Bråker is the present tense of å bråke, meaning “to make noise” or “to be noisy.”
So barna bråker translates to “the children are making noise” or “the children are noisy.”
Why is the verb form bråker the same for all persons and numbers?
In Norwegian, present‐tense verbs do not change with person or number. You always add -r to the infinitive stem:
- Jeg bråker
- Du bråker
- Han/hun bråker
- Vi bråker
- Dere bråker
- De bråker
Why is the pronoun de used instead of dem?
De is the subject form (“they”), while dem is the object form (“them”). In når de leker, de is the subject of the verb leker.
How does word order work in the clause introduced by når?
Når is a subordinating conjunction (“when”). In subordinate clauses Norwegian uses:
conjunction + subject + verb, e.g. når de leker.
You do not invert subject and verb as you do in questions.
Can I invert the sentence and say Når de leker, bråker barna?
Yes. When a subordinate clause comes first, the main clause follows the V-S (verb–subject) order:
Når de leker, bråker barna.
That’s normal inversion after an initial adverbial.
What’s the infinitive of leker, and how do I recognize it?
The infinitive is å leke. You spot it by removing the -r from the present‐tense form leker and adding å.