Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Gardinene er like lyse som veggene i stuen. - The curtains are as bright as the walls in the living room.

Example from the sentence: like lyse som veggene i stuen = as light as the walls in the living room.
More examples:
- Han er like høy som henne. (He is as tall as her.)
- Teppet er like mykt som puta. (The rug is as soft as the pillow.)

Why is it lyse and not lys?

Because the subject gardinene (the curtains) is plural, and predicative adjectives agree in number. For the adjective lys (light/bright):

Singular common gender: er lys (En gardin er lys.)
Singular neuter: er lyst (Et teppe er lyst.)
Plural (any gender): er lyse (Gardinene er lyse.)

Could I say så lyse som instead of like lyse som?

Yes. Så ... som can also mean as ... as: Gardinene er så lyse som veggene. In neutral comparisons of equality, like ... som is very common. Så ... som is especially frequent with possible/maximum phrases (e.g., så lys som mulig = as light as possible).

Why are veggene and stuen in the definite form?

veggene = the walls (specific walls you have in mind).
i stuen = in the living room (a specific, known room). In Norwegian, when a noun is specified by a following phrase (like i stuen), you typically make the head noun definite if you mean those specific items: veggene i stuen ≈ the walls of the living room.

Could I say vegger i stuen instead of veggene i stuen?

Not if you mean the specific walls. Vegger i stuen sounds like “(some) walls in the living room” and is unusual here. With a specifying phrase (i stuen), use the definite plural to mean the particular walls: veggene i stuen.

Why is it gardinene and not gardinerne?

In Bokmål, nouns whose indefinite plural ends in -er take -ene in the definite plural (not -erne):

en gardin → gardiner → gardinene
en vegg → vegger → veggene

Is i stua also correct?

Yes. Stue can be masculine or feminine in Bokmål:

Masculine: en stue – stuen – stuer – stuene
Feminine: ei stue – stua – stuer – stuene So both i stuen and i stua are correct; i stua is more colloquial.

Why is it i stuen and not på stuen?

For being inside rooms, standard Norwegian uses i (in): i stuen, i kjøkkenet. Some dialects may say på stua, but in neutral Bokmål, use i for rooms.

How do I say “lighter than” instead of “as light as”?

Use the comparative plus enn (than):

Gardinene er lysere enn veggene i stuen. Remember: equality uses som; comparisons with a comparative adjective use enn.

How do I say “not as light as”?

Insert ikke:

Gardinene er ikke like lyse som veggene i stuen.

Do adjectives after er care about definiteness?

Predicative adjectives (after verbs like er) do not take the definite ending; they only agree in gender and number:

Attributive definite (before a noun): den lyse veggen
Predicative (after er): veggen er lys Plural is always -e in predicative: veggene er lyse.

Pronunciation tips for key words?

like: LEE-keh [ˈliːkə]
lyse: LÜ-seh (front rounded y, like French u) [ˈlyːsə]
veggene: VEG-uh-neh (hard g) [ˈvɛɡːənə]
stuen: STÜ-en (Norwegian u is a front rounded vowel) [ˈstʉːən]
gardinene: gar-DEE-neh-neh (hard g, tapped/flapped r) [ɡɑrˈdiːnənə]

Is lyse here the verb “to shine”?

No. Here lyse is the plural form of the adjective lys (light/bright). The verb å lyse (to shine) is used like Lampene lyser (The lamps are shining).

Can I drop som in this structure?

No. The equality pattern needs som: like + adjective + som. Without som it’s ungrammatical. For “than” comparisons, use enn with a comparative (e.g., lysere enn).

How would the adjective change with a singular subject?

Masculine/feminine singular: Gardinen er like lys som veggene i stuen.
Neuter singular: Teppet er like lyst som veggene i stuen. Plural (original): Gardinene er like lyse ...

Is there another way to say “the walls of the living room”?

You can use a genitive, but it sounds formal/literary: stuens vegger. The most natural everyday form is veggene i stuen (or i stua).