Fotgjengeren går over gaten.

the street

Breakdown of Fotgjengeren går over gaten.

• fotgjengeren: the pedestrian
• gå over: to cross

Questions & Answers about Fotgjengeren går over gaten.

Why is there no separate word for the English “the” in fotgjengeren, and why is -en attached to the noun?

In Norwegian Bokmål the definite article is a suffix on the noun rather than a separate word. Common-gender nouns add -en in the singular definite form. So fotgjenger (“a pedestrian”) becomes fotgjengeren (“the pedestrian”).

What are the indefinite singular and plural forms of fotgjenger and gate?

• Indefinite singular: en fotgjenger (a pedestrian), en gate (a street)
• Indefinite plural: fotgjengere (pedestrians), gater (streets)
• Definite plural: fotgjengerne (the pedestrians), gatene (the streets)

Shouldn’t the definite form of gate be gata instead of gaten?

In Bokmål many feminine nouns have two options:
• Feminine-only: ei gate → gata
• Common gender: en gate → gaten
Your example uses the common-gender variant gaten, but gata is also correct.

What is the literal composition of fotgjenger, and how do compound nouns work in Norwegian?

Fotgjenger is a compound of fot (“foot”) + gjenger (“one who walks”). In Norwegian you simply join the words together, and the right-most element (gjenger) determines the core meaning and gender.