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Familien samles i stuen.

Familien samles i stuen.
The family gathers in the living room.
FromLesson 22inHardcore Norwegian
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Questions & Answers about Familien samles i stuen.

What is the function of the -en ending in familien? Why doesn’t it say familie or en familie?

In Norwegian you form the definite singular of a common‐gender noun by adding -en. So:
• familie = “family” (indefinite)
• familien = “the family” (definite)
Here familien is already definite, so you don’t need a separate article like en.

Why does samles have an -s at the end? Is this a passive construction?
The -s is the so-called s-passive or mediopassive (middle voice). It comes from the verb å samle (“to gather”). In this form it often means “to gather together” rather than “to be gathered by someone.” So Familien samles translates as “The family gathers” or “The family is gathering,” without specifying who does the gathering.
Could we say Familien samler seg i stuen instead? What’s the difference?

Yes. samler seg combines the active verb samle with the reflexive pronoun seg (“themselves”):
• Familien samler seg i stuen.
Both sentences mean “The family gathers in the living room,” but:

  • samles = middle voice/passive‐like, no reflexive pronoun needed
  • samler seg = active + reflexive pronoun
    They’re interchangeable; samles is just a bit more concise.
Why is stuen in the definite form? When do you use definite nouns after prepositions?

stue = “living room” (indefinite). Adding -en gives stuen = “the living room” (definite), indicating a specific room. In Norwegian, prepositions like i, på, til etc. are followed by the noun in its normal indefinite or definite form:
• i stue ✗ (wrong)
• i en stue = “in a living room”
• i stuen = “in the living room”

Can we use stua instead of stuen? What’s the difference?

Yes. In Bokmål feminine nouns in the definite singular can end in either -en or -a:
• stuen (more formal/written)
• stua (colloquial/spoken)
Both mean “the living room.”

What’s the word order here? Could I put i stuen first?

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position. You can front i stuen for emphasis:
• I stuen samles familien.
Here:

  1. I stuen (adverbial) — 1st position
  2. samles (verb) — 2nd position
  3. familien (subject) — 3rd position
    It’s correct but less neutral than the default Subject-Verb-Adverbial order.
How do you pronounce samles? Where’s the stress?

• Stress on the first syllable: SAM-les
• a like the a in “father”
• -es is a weak ending, with the e as a schwa (like the a in “sofa”)