Taxi-sjåføren venter ved flyplassen.

The taxi driver is waiting at the airport.

Breakdown of Taxi-sjåføren venter ved flyplassen.

• ved: at
• vente: to wait
• flyplassen: the airport
• taxi-sjåføren: the taxi driver

Questions & Answers about Taxi-sjåføren venter ved flyplassen.

Why is taxi-sjåføren hyphenated, and what does the -en ending do?

The word taxi-sjåfør is a compound noun made from taxi (borrowed from English) and sjåfør (“driver”). In Norwegian:

• Compound nouns often combine elements directly, but when the first part is a foreign word, a hyphen is common to clarify the boundary: taxi-sjåfør.
• Definiteness is shown by a suffix, not a separate article. Common‐gender nouns take -en in the definite singular: • taxi-sjåfør = “(a) taxi driver”
  • taxi-sjåfører = “taxi drivers” (indefinite plural)
  • taxi-sjåføren = “the taxi driver”

How do I know taxi-sjåfør is common‐gender, and why does that matter?

Norwegian has two genders for most nouns: common (sometimes called masculine/feminine) and neuter. You can tell taxi-sjåfør is common‐gender because its definite singular ends in -en (neuter would take -et). Gender affects:

• The form of the definite suffix
• Which indefinite article you might use (en for common, et for neuter)

Why is flyplassen used instead of flyplass, and what role does it play?

Flyplass means “airport.” Like taxi-sjåfør, it’s a common‐gender noun. Adding -en makes it definite: flyplassen = “the airport.” Here it’s the object of the preposition ved, so together ved flyplassen = “by/at the airport.”

What’s the difference between ved, på, and i in location phrases with flyplassen?

All three can translate as “at” or “in,” but with nuances:

• ved flyplassen = “by/near the airport” (just outside or next to it)
• på flyplassen = “at the airport” (on the premises, inside or just generally there)
• i flyplassen = “inside the airport” (within the building)

Can I start the sentence with ved flyplassen? How does word order work?

Yes. Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule (verb-second position). If you front the prepositional phrase, the verb still must be second: Ved flyplassen venter taxi-sjåføren.
Here venter remains in position two, then comes the subject taxi-sjåføren.

How do I pronounce sjåføren?

Approximate IPA: [ˈʃoːføːrɛn].

• sj = [ʃ] (like English “sh” in shoe)
• å = [oː] (like a rounded “aw,” but shorter)
• ø = [øː] (similar to the “eu” in French peu)
• -en = [ɛn]

Could I drop the hyphen and write taxisjåføren instead?

Yes, taxisjåføren is also seen in modern Norwegian. The hyphen is optional and often used to aid readability when the first part is a foreign loanword. Both forms are correct.