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Breakdown of Taxi-sjåføren sier at det er et skilt som advarer om en ulykke på veien.
være
to be
en
a
et
a
om
about
det
it
at
that
på
on
som
which
si
to say
veien
the road
taxi-sjåføren
the taxi driver
skiltet
the sign
advare
to warn
ulykken
the accident
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Questions & Answers about Taxi-sjåføren sier at det er et skilt som advarer om en ulykke på veien.
What does Taxi-sjåføren mean in this sentence, and why is there a hyphen between Taxi and sjåføren?
Taxi-sjåføren literally means the taxi driver.
- Taxi is a loanword from English.
- sjåfør means driver.
- The -en ending marks the definite form (common gender).
The hyphen is optional but often inserted to make compounds with foreign words clearer. You will also see taxisjåføren written without a hyphen.
Why do we use sier at instead of just sier?
sier means says, and adding at turns the next clause into reported speech.
- sier at = says that
Without at, you’re missing the conjunction that links to what is actually being said.
Example:
• Han sier at han kommer. = He says that he is coming.
Why is the verb er in the second position after at det, instead of at the end of the clause?
Norwegian subordinate clauses introduced by at still follow the Verb-Second (V2) rule:
- The conjunction (at) takes slot 1.
- The subject (det) takes slot 2.
- The finite verb (er) takes slot 3.
So at det er et skilt keeps the verb in second position of that clause, unlike German where subordinate clauses are verb-final.
What gender is skilt, and how do you know?
skilt (‘sign’) is a neuter noun. Clues:
- It takes the indefinite article et: et skilt.
- Its definite form is skiltet.
In the sentence we see et skilt because it’s indefinite (a sign, not a specific one already known).
What role does som play in som advarer om?
som is a relative pronoun meaning which or that. Here it:
- Refers back to skilt.
- Introduces the relative clause som advarer om en ulykke på veien.
In Norwegian, som is used for both subjects and objects in relative clauses, and it never changes form.
Why do we say advarer om and not advarer mot?
Both prepositions are possible, but they have different nuances:
- advarer om = warns about (a situation, danger, event)
- advarer mot = cautions against (an action or behaviour)
Since the sign warns drivers about an accident ahead, om is the more natural choice.
What does en ulykke mean, and why is it indefinite?
ulykke means accident.
- en ulykke is indefinite because it refers to an accident in general, not a previously specified one.
If the speaker had mentioned the accident before, they would use the definite form ulykken.
Why is it på veien instead of i veien?
- på veien translates to on the road, indicating location on a surface (the road).
- i veien means in the way (as in “blocking your path”).
Here we want to say “the accident is on the road,” so på is correct.
Could we use det finnes instead of det er in this sentence?
Yes. Both can mean “there is”:
- det er et skilt = there is a sign (very common in spoken Norwegian)
- det finnes et skilt = there exists a sign (a bit more formal, emphasizes existence)
In everyday speech det er is usually preferred, but det finnes works too.