Publikummet lytter til musikken.

The audience listens to the music.

Breakdown of Publikummet lytter til musikken.

• til: to
• musikken: the music
• lytte: to listen
• publikummet: the audience

Questions & Answers about Publikummet lytter til musikken.

What does the suffix -et in publikummet indicate?

It marks the definite singular form of the neuter noun publikum. In Norwegian Bokmål, “the” is attached as a suffix; for neuter nouns like publikum, you add -et (so publikummet = “the audience”).

Why does publikummet have a double “m”?

When you attach the suffix -et to a word ending in -m, you get mm. This doubling shows the boundary between stem and suffix and indicates that the preceding vowel is short—an orthographic convention.

What part of speech is lytter, and why does it end with -r?

lytter is the present‐tense form of the verb å lytte (“to listen”). In Norwegian, you form the present tense by adding -r to the infinitive stem, regardless of person or number.

Why is there a til after lytter—why not just lytter musikken?

The verb lytte requires the preposition til to introduce what you’re listening to. Unlike English (“listen to”), Norwegian uses lytte til as a fixed verb+preposition combination; without til, the sentence would be ungrammatical.

What exactly is the role of til in this sentence?

Here, til functions as a preposition marking the object of lytte. It corresponds to English to in “listen to,” linking the verb to musikken.

How is musikken formed, and what does -en do?

musikk is a common‐gender noun in Bokmål; its indefinite singular is en musikk. You form the definite singular by adding -en, yielding musikken (“the music”).

Can we drop the definite article and say Publikummet lytter til musikk?

Yes. Publikummet lytter til musikk means “the audience listens to music” in a general sense. Keeping musikken makes it specific (“the music” you’re talking about).

Could I say Publikummet hører på musikken instead of lytter til musikken?

Yes. høre på also means “to listen to,” though høre alone often means “to hear” (simply perceiving sound). høre på musikken is more colloquial; lytte til sounds a bit more formal or attentive.

Why is the verb placed immediately after the subject? How does word order work here?

In Norwegian main clauses you follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position. Here, the subject publikummet is first, so the verb lytter is second. Everything else (adverbials, objects) comes after.

Could I start the sentence with Til musikken, and how would that affect word order?

Yes: Til musikken lytter publikummet. This topicalizes Til musikken in first position; by the V2 rule the verb lytter still comes second, and the subject publikummet follows it.