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Hun deler sjokoladekaken med barna.

Hun deler sjokoladekaken med barna.
She shares the chocolate cake with the children.
FromLesson 27inHardcore Norwegian
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Breakdown of Hun deler sjokoladekaken med barna.

hun
she
med
with
barnet
the child
dele
to share
sjokoladekaken
the chocolate cake
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Questions & Answers about Hun deler sjokoladekaken med barna.

Why are both sjokoladekaken and barna in the definite form?

Norwegian marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun. The sentence refers to specific, known items, so it uses definite forms:

  • sjokoladekaken = the chocolate cake (base: sjokoladekake)
  • barna = the children (base: barn) If you mean non‑specific things, you’d use indefinite forms like en sjokoladekake and noen barn.
Could I say it with indefinite nouns instead?

Yes, if the context is non‑specific:

  • Hun deler en sjokoladekake med noen barn. (a cake; some children) You might also see bare mass‑like use with food in some contexts (e.g., Hun spiser sjokoladekake), but with dele, the countable form en sjokoladekake is more natural when you mean “a cake.”
Why is sjokoladekaken written as one word?

Norwegian writes compound nouns as one word. Sjokolade + kake → sjokoladekake. Only the last element inflects for definiteness/plural:

  • singular indefinite: sjokoladekake
  • singular definite: sjokoladekaken
  • plural indefinite: sjokoladekaker
  • plural definite: sjokoladekakene
Why kaken and not kaka?

In Bokmål, kake can be masculine or feminine:

  • masculine: en kake → kaken
  • feminine: ei kake → kaka Both are correct in Bokmål; kaka often sounds more colloquial/dialectal. So you will also encounter sjokoladekaka.
What exactly does the verb form deler mean?

It’s the present tense of dele and covers both English “shares” and “is sharing.” Norwegian present doesn’t distinguish simple vs. progressive. Other common forms:

  • preterite: delte
  • perfect participle: har delt
  • imperative: del! To emphasize ongoing action, you might say holder på å dele or use an activity verb (e.g., står og deler).
Why dele med and not another preposition? Can I use mellom or til?
  • dele med (noen) = share with someone (standard mapping of “share with”).
  • dele mellom (noen) = divide among (focus on distribution across people).
  • dele ut (noe) til (noen) = hand out something to someone. So:
  • Hun deler sjokoladekaken med barna. (she shares it with them)
  • Hun deler sjokoladekaken mellom barna. (she splits it among them)
  • Hun deler ut kake til barna. (she hands out cake to them)
How do I say “with her children”? Is barna hennes different from barna sine?

Yes:

  • barna sine = her own children (refers back to the subject)
  • barna hennes = her children, but not necessarily the subject’s; could be another woman’s So:
  • Hun deler sjokoladekaken med barna sine. (her own kids)
  • Hun deler sjokoladekaken med barna hennes. (some other woman’s kids, or at least not reflexively tied to the subject)
Where would negation go, and how does word order work?

Main clause negation comes after the verb:

  • Hun deler ikke sjokoladekaken med barna. With topicalization (V2 rule), the verb stays second:
  • Sjokoladekaken deler hun med barna. In a subordinate clause, the negation precedes the verb:
  • at hun ikke deler sjokoladekaken med barna
How do I pronounce sjokoladekaken and barna?

Approximate pronunciation:

  • sjokoladekaken: “shoo-ko-LAH-deh-kah-ken” (stress on -la-)
    • sj is like English “sh”
    • the o in the first syllable is like “oo” in “shoot”
  • barna: “BAR-na” (trilled or tapped r, depending on dialect)
What are the forms of barn? Why is barna the children?

barn is a neuter noun with an irregular plural:

  • singular indefinite: et barn
  • singular definite: barnet
  • plural indefinite: barn
  • plural definite: barna
Can I replace barna with a pronoun?

Yes:

  • Hun deler sjokoladekaken med dem. (with them) Use dem (object form), not de (subject form).
What happens if I add an adjective? Do I need “double definiteness”?

Yes. With an adjective, Norwegian uses a leading determiner plus the suffixed definite:

  • den store sjokoladekaken
  • de små barna Without an adjective, you just use the suffixed definite: sjokoladekaken, barna.
Could deler be confused with a noun?
In writing, context disambiguates. deler can also be the plural of the noun del (“parts”). Here, deler is clearly a verb (present tense of dele) because it follows the subject Hun and takes objects/prepositional phrases.
Is there any difference in meaning between med barna and mellom barna here?

Yes:

  • med barna = she is sharing it with them (they participate and receive some)
  • mellom barna = she is splitting it among them (focus on distribution across the group)