Questions & Answers about Denne øvelsen er nødvendig for god helse.
What is the function of Denne in this sentence, and why can’t we use Dette or Disse instead?
Denne is a demonstrative determiner meaning “this” for singular common-gender nouns. Øvelse (exercise) is common gender in Norwegian Bokmål, so you use Denne øvelsen (“this exercise”).
- Dette is for singular neuter nouns (e.g. dette huset “this house”).
- Disse is for all genders in the plural (e.g. disse bøkene “these books”).
Why is øvelsen spelled with -en at the end?
In Bokmål, you add -en to a common-gender noun to form the definite singular.
- øvelse = “exercise” (indefinite)
- øvelsen = “the exercise” (definite)
Why doesn’t nødvendig change form with gender or number here?
Here nødvendig is used predicatively after the linking verb er. Predicative adjectives in Norwegian remain in their base form (no -t or -e). If you used it attributively before a noun, it would still stay nødvendig in an indefinite common‐gender context (e.g. en nødvendig øvelse). Only definite forms or neuter indefinite attributive forms get extra endings.