På bussen viser jeg busskortet mitt til sjåføren.

I

Breakdown of På bussen viser jeg busskortet mitt til sjåføren.

• til: to
• på: on
• bussen: the bus

Questions & Answers about På bussen viser jeg busskortet mitt til sjåføren.

Why is på bussen used instead of i bussen?

In Norwegian you normally use på with public transport (buses, trains, planes) – so you say på bussen, på toget, på flyet. Use i for enclosed spaces like i en bil (“in a car”) or i rommet (“in the room”), but for buses it’s almost always på.

Why does the verb viser come before the subject jeg in this sentence?

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in the second position. Since på bussen is the first “slot,” viser must be second, pushing the subject jeg into third position. If you start with the subject you’d say: Jeg viser busskortet mitt til sjåføren.

Why is the possessive pronoun mitt placed after busskortet? Couldn’t I say mitt busskort?

When a noun is definite (here busskortet = “the bus card”), the possessive pronoun comes after the noun: busskortet mitt (“my bus card”). If the noun were indefinite you would say mitt busskort. Note also that busskort is a neuter noun, so its indefinite possessor is mitt rather than min.

What do the endings -et in busskortet and in mean?