Hun finner svampen i skuffen.

she

Breakdown of Hun finner svampen i skuffen.

• i: in
• finne: to find
• skuffen: the drawer

Questions & Answers about Hun finner svampen i skuffen.

What exactly does svampen mean—sponge or mushroom?

In Norwegian, svamp most commonly means a cleaning sponge. It can also mean fungus in a biological sense, but for edible mushrooms Norwegians say sopp. Here, svampen is naturally understood as the sponge.

Why do the nouns end in -en? Where did “the” go?

Norwegian usually marks definiteness with a suffix attached to the noun:

• -en for masculine/feminine nouns, -et for neuter.
• en svamp → svampen (a sponge → the sponge)
• en skuff → skuffen (a drawer → the drawer) If you add an adjective to a definite noun, you also use a fronted determiner (see the “double definite” explanation below).

Can I use the indefinite forms instead?

Yes—use definite vs. indefinite to match what is known in context:

• Both unknown: Hun finner en svamp i en skuff.
• Known drawer, unknown sponge: Hun finner en svamp i skuffen.
• Known sponge, unknown drawer: Hun finner svampen i en skuff.
• Both known (original): Hun finner svampen i skuffen.

How is finne conjugated?