Barnet sover under dynen uten å våkne.

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Breakdown of Barnet sover under dynen uten å våkne.

• barnet: the child
• sove: to sleep
• uten: without

Questions & Answers about Barnet sover under dynen uten å våkne.

What does the -et ending in Barnet mean?

• barn is a neuter noun meaning child.
• In Norwegian, definiteness is usually marked with a suffix. So:
  • Indefinite singular: et barn (a child)
  • Definite singular: barnet (the child)
• That -et is the neuter definite ending.

Why is it dynen and not dyna? Are both correct?

• The noun dyne (duvet) is feminine, but in Bokmål you may treat many feminine nouns as masculine.
• Both definite forms are correct in Bokmål:
  • Feminine: dyna
  • Masculine-style: dynen
• Indefinite: ei dyne or en dyne; plural: dyner (definite plural: dynene).
• In speech, dyna is very common; dynen often sounds a bit more formal or bookish.

Why is it sover and not something like er sover (is sleeping)?

• Norwegian usually uses simple present for ongoing actions: sover covers both English is sleeping and sleeps.
• You don’t form a progressive with å være (to be) + present participle.
• sovende is an adjective (a sleeping child = et sovende barn), not a progressive verb form.