Sekken er full av bøker.

The backpack is full of books.

Breakdown of Sekken er full av bøker.

• være: to be
• boken: the book
• av: of
• full: full
• sekken: the backpack

Questions & Answers about Sekken er full av bøker.

Why is sekken used, and how does it differ from en sekk?

sekken is the definite form of the noun sekk (bag). In Norwegian you attach -en (for masculine/feminine) to make it definite, so sekken means the bag. By contrast en sekk means a bag (indefinite).

Why is there no article before bøker—why not bøkene?

bøker is the indefinite plural form of bok (book). In Norwegian, indefinite nouns in the plural do not take an article. If you wanted the books, you would say bøkene (adding -ene for definite plural).

What does full av mean, and is it a fixed expression?

full av literally means full of. It’s a common adjective-preposition combination in Norwegian used to express that something contains a lot of something else. Yes, you can think of full av as a set phrase equivalent to English full of.

Why is the form full used here and not fullt or fulle?

In Bokmål predicate adjectives agree in number and grammatical gender of the subject as follows:

• Masculine/feminine singular → full
• Neuter singular → fullt (e.g. rommet er fullt – the room is full)
• Plural (all genders) → fulle (e.g. sekkene er fulle – the bags are full)
  Here sekken is masculine/feminine singular, so we use full.

Could I use the preposition med instead of av (as in full med bøker)?

While English uses full of and sometimes filled with, in Norwegian full av is the standard pairing. You can say full av bøker, but full med bøker sounds non-native. If you want to use med, you typically switch the verb: Sekken er fylt med bøker (The bag is filled with books).

How would I say “A bag is full of books.” in Norwegian?

Use the indefinite form of bag:
En sekk er full av bøker.
Here you change sekken → en sekk, and everything else stays the same.

How would I say “The bags are full of books.”?

Make both the subject and adjective plural definite:
Sekkene er fulle av bøker.

• Sekkene = the bags (definite plural)
• fulle = full (plural)
• bøker remains indefinite plural for "books."

Are there synonyms I can use instead of full av bøker?

Yes. A few alternatives:

• fylt med bøker (filled with books)
• stappet med bøker (crammed with books)
• proppet full av bøker (packed full of books)
  Each carries a slightly different nuance: fylt med is neutral, stappet and proppet suggest it’s bursting.

How do I pronounce Sekken er full av bøker?

Approximate Bokmål pronunciation (IPA):
/ˈsɛkːən ɛr fʊl ɑv ˈbøːkər/
Tips:

• sek-ken: double k means a longer [k] sound.
• ø in bøker sounds like the vowel in French heure, roughly [øː].
• Final -er in sekken and bøker is a reduced /ən/ sound (schwa + n).