Breakdown of Teateret har en ny utstilling om gammel kunst.
ha
to have
en
a
om
about
ny
new
gammel
old
teateret
the theatre
utstillingen
the exhibition
kunsten
the art
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Questions & Answers about Teateret har en ny utstilling om gammel kunst.
What does the -et ending in Teateret signify?
It marks the definite singular form for a neuter noun in Bokmål. Teater means “a theatre” and adding -et gives Teateret, “the theatre.”
Why is en used before ny utstilling instead of et or ei?
Utstilling is a common-gender noun. In Bokmål common-gender nouns can take the masculine article en or the feminine article ei, but en is more commonly used. Et is reserved for neuter-gender nouns.
Is it okay to say ei utstilling instead of en utstilling?
Yes. Utstilling is formally feminine, so ei utstilling is perfectly correct. Many Bokmål speakers simplify by using en for all common-gender nouns, which is why you often see en utstilling.
Why does ny have no ending like nytt or nye?
Adjectives in Norwegian agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify. For a common-gender indefinite singular noun (here utstilling), the adjective remains uninflected: en ny utstilling. You’d use nytt with a neuter noun (e.g. et nytt hus) and nye for plurals (e.g. nye utstillinger).
Why is it gammel kunst and not gammelt kunst or gamle kunst?
Kunst (“art”) is an uncountable (mass) noun treated as common gender in this context. Mass nouns don’t take an article here, and the adjective stays in its basic form (no -t, no -e), giving gammel kunst for “old art.”
Why isn’t there an article before gammel kunst? Could you say om en gammel kunst?
When you speak about a mass noun in general (“art” as a concept), Norwegian omits the indefinite article. om en gammel kunst would imply “about one old art,” which is ungrammatical in Norwegian.
What does the preposition om mean here? Could you use av instead?
om means “about” when you talk about the topic or theme. En utstilling om gammel kunst = “an exhibition about old art.” If you say av, as in utstilling av gammel kunst, it means “an exhibition consisting of old art” (i.e. the works on display are old).
Could you also say Teateret holder en ny utstilling om gammel kunst?
Yes. Holde en utstilling means “to hold (stage) an exhibition.” So that sentence emphasizes that the theatre is putting on this exhibition right now, rather than merely “having” it in the sense of possession.