Log inSign up

Temperaturen er lav i kveld.

Temperaturen er lav i kveld.
The temperature is low tonight.
FromLesson 28inHardcore Norwegian
……

Questions & Answers about Temperaturen er lav i kveld.

What does i kveld mean exactly?
It means this evening/tonight (the evening of today). It refers to the period from early evening until night. It’s not used for late night; that would be i natt.
Why is it temperaturen and not just temperatur?

Norwegian marks definiteness with a suffix:

  • Masculine: en temperatur (a temperature) → temperaturen (the temperature) You’re talking about a specific, known temperature (the current one), so the definite form temperaturen is natural. Using bare temperatur here would sound odd.
Could I say Det er lav temperatur i kveld instead?

Yes, that’s grammatical and means “There is low temperature tonight,” but it sounds a bit technical/formal. In everyday speech you’d more often say:

  • Temperaturen er lav i kveld.
  • Or even more idiomatically about weather: Det er kaldt i kveld. (It’s cold tonight.)
Why is it lav and not lavt or lave?

This is a predicative adjective (after the verb er). Agreement rules:

  • Common gender singular (most nouns, including temperatur): base form → lav
  • Neuter singular: add -t → lavt (e.g., Nivået er lavt “The level is low”)
  • Plural: add -e → lave (e.g., Temperaturene er lave “The temperatures are low”) Note: lavt can also be an adverb meaning “quietly/low” (e.g., snakker lavt “speaks quietly”).
Where does i kveld go in the sentence? Can I move it?

Yes. Typical options:

  • Neutral: Temperaturen er lav i kveld.
  • Fronted time (more emphasis on when): I kveld er temperaturen lav. When you front an element like i kveld, Norwegian keeps the verb in second position: I kveld er … (V2 word order).
How do I make this a yes/no question?

Invert subject and verb:

  • Er temperaturen lav i kveld? (Is the temperature low tonight?)
How do I negate it?

Place ikke after the finite verb:

  • Temperaturen er ikke lav i kveld. With fronting: I kveld er temperaturen ikke lav.
How do I pronounce the words?
  • temperaturen: roughly “tem-peh-rah-TOO-ren” (main stress on the “-tur-” part)
  • lav: “lahv” (long a)
  • i kveld: “ee kvel” (the d in kveld is silent in many accents) Norwegian v is like English v; i is a clear long “ee.”
What gender is temperatur, and how do I inflect it?

Masculine in Bokmål:

  • Singular: en temperatur → temperaturen
  • Plural: temperaturer → temperaturene
Why use lav (low) and not kald (cold)?

Both can be correct, but they do different things:

  • lav states the level is low (more neutral/technical: temperature, speed, level).
  • kald describes the sensation/weather. For everyday talk about weather, Det er kaldt i kveld is very natural.
Why not i kvelden? What about på/om kvelden?
  • Specific time today: i kveld (this evening/tonight)
  • Habitual/general: om kvelden or på kvelden (in the evenings) So you say i kveld, not i kvelden, for tonight.
Can I talk about the future/forecast?

Yes. Use blir (becomes/will be):

  • Temperaturen blir lav i kveld. (The temperature will be low tonight.) You can also say kommer til å være, but blir is shorter and common in forecasts.
Is there a difference in Nynorsk?

Yes, the adjective is typically låg in Nynorsk:

  • Temperaturen er låg i kveld. (Nynorsk) In Bokmål (the sentence you have), lav is standard.
Is it ever written as one word, ikveld?
Standard Bokmål is two words: i kveld. The one-word form may appear in informal texting or older writing but isn’t standard.

More from this lesson

vanligvisVi spiser vanligvis middag klokken seks.hverdagenPå hverdager står hun opp tidligere enn i helgene.såFilmen var ikke så lang som boken vi leste.Jeg drikker te uten å bruke sukker.Hun gikk ut uten å si noe.
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“What's the best way to learn Norwegian grammar?”
Norwegian grammar becomes intuitive with practice. Focus on understanding the core patterns first — how sentences are structured, how verbs change form, and how words relate to each other. Our course breaks these concepts into small lessons so you can build understanding step by step.

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning Norwegian

Master Norwegian — from Temperaturen er lav i kveld to fluency

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.

  • ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
  • ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
  • ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
  • ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions
Start learning Norwegian freeBrowse the full course