Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Laksen og eggene fra bonden smaker godt uten sukker. - The salmon and the eggs from the farmer taste good without sugar.

In Norwegian the definite article is suffixed to the noun. laksen means “the salmon,” whereas laks on its own is just “salmon” (indefinite). The same applies in the plural: eggene = “the eggs.”

When you join two nouns with og, do you need to add the definite ending to each noun?

Yes. If you want to say “the X and the Y,” you attach the definite suffix to both. Hence laksen og eggene means “the salmon and the eggs.” If you only suffixed one, it would either change the meaning or sound ungrammatical.

Why is the verb smaker the same form whether the subject is singular or plural?

Norwegian present‐tense verbs do not inflect for number or person. You use smaker for “tastes” with both a singular subject (laksen) and a plural subject (eggene).

What does smaker godt literally mean, and why isn’t it er god?

smaker = “tastes” (to taste), and godt is an adverb meaning “well” or “goodly.” So smaker godt = “tastes good.” er god would be “is good,” using god as an adjective with er (“is”).

Why is godt used instead of god after smaker?

Because smaker is an action verb, you modify it with an adverb (godt). god is an adjective, used after linking verbs like er (“is”).

Why is fra bonden placed after the nouns, and why is bonden in its definite form?

fra bonden is a post-modifier (a prepositional phrase describing origin). It must follow the noun it modifies: laksen og eggene fra bonden = “the salmon and eggs from the farmer.” bonden is definite because you’re referring to a specific farmer (“the farmer”).

Could you say fra en bonde instead of fra bonden? What’s the difference?

Yes. fra en bonde means “from a farmer” (any farmer, indefinite). fra bonden means “from the farmer” (a specific one you have in mind).

Could you rephrase the sentence using a genitive instead of fra bonden?

Absolutely. You could say bondens laks og egg smaker godt uten sukker. Here bondens (“the farmer’s”) is a possessive genitive. Note that egg can be singular or plural in indefinite, but if you want definite you’d say bondens laks og eggene.

Why doesn’t sukker have an article after uten, and why not use ingen sukker?

uten is a preposition that takes an uninflected (bare) noun when you mean “without X.” Since sukker is an uncountable noun here, it stays sukker. You wouldn’t say ingen sukker; instead, if you wanted to say “without any sugar,” you could add noe: uten noe sukker, but the simpler uten sukker is most common.