Det meste er allerede betalt.

Most of it is already paid.

Breakdown of Det meste er allerede betalt.

• være: to be
• allerede: already
• betalt: paid
• det meste: most

Questions & Answers about Det meste er allerede betalt.

What exactly is Det meste? Is det just a dummy “it”?

• Det meste is a fixed phrase meaning “most (of it), the bulk.”
• Grammatically, det is the neuter definite article/determiner, and meste is the definite superlative of mye (“much”).
• The whole phrase functions as a singular neuter pronoun-like noun phrase. It is not a dummy/expletive det here.

Why is it meste and not mest?

• Mest is an adverb/quantifier (“most”) and also the superlative used before adjectives, as in det mest interessante (“the most interesting”).
• Det meste is the definite, nominal form meaning “the most part/most of it.”
• So use:
  • det meste = “most (of it)” as a noun phrase.
  • mest + adjective/adverb = “the most X” (det mest sannsynlige).

When do I use det meste vs de fleste?

• Det meste refers to an amount/portion, often of something mass-like or of a whole: Det meste av regningen …, Det meste av arbeidet …, Det meste av maten …
• De fleste means “most (of the) [countable plural nouns/people]”: De fleste regningene …, De fleste studentene …
• For countable items (books, people, invoices), de fleste is usually the best choice.

Can I specify “most of what” with av?

Yes. Use av to name the whole you’re taking a “most” from:

• Det meste av regningen er allerede betalt.
• Det meste av arbeidet er gjort.
• Det meste av pengene er borte. Avoid using på here; av is the natural preposition for “of.”

Why is allerede placed after er? Could it go elsewhere?

• Main-clause word order is V2: the finite verb (er) comes in second position. Adverbs like allerede typically sit after the finite verb: Det meste er allerede betalt.
• Variations:
  • End position (slightly emphatic/narrative): Det meste er betalt allerede.
  • Fronted adverb (emphatic): Allerede er det meste betalt.
  • Subordinate clause: … at det meste allerede er betalt (no V2; the adverb precedes the verb inside the verb phrase).

Is er betalt a passive?

Yes. It’s the resultative/state passive: være + past participle. It describes the current state/result (“is paid”), not the action of paying itself, and it leaves the agent unspecified.

How do I say it actively with a subject?

• Noen har allerede betalt det meste. (“Someone has already paid most of it.”)
• Han/Hun/Vi har allerede betalt det meste (av regningen).

What’s the difference between er betalt, ble betalt, and er blitt/har blitt betalt?

• er betalt = state/result now (“is paid”).
• ble betalt = eventive passive, simple past (“was paid [then]”).
• er blitt/har blitt betalt = present perfect passive (“has been paid”). Both er blitt and har blitt are used in Bokmål; many style guides prefer har blitt. Examples:
• I dag er mesteparten betalt. (state now)
• I går ble det meste betalt. (the event happened yesterday)
• Det meste har/er blitt betalt allerede. (the payment has occurred before now)

Do I need for after betalt (like “paid for”)?

• Norwegian allows both betale noe (“pay something”) and betale for noe (“pay for something”).
• If you use a direct object: Varen/Regningen er allerede betalt.
• With betale for, the passive is impersonal: Det er allerede betalt for varen. (Avoid “Varen er betalt for,” which is nonstandard.)

Does betalt change form with gender/number?

• Predicative (after være/er/ble): keep betalt unchanged, regardless of number/gender.
  • Regningen er betalt. Regningene er betalt.
• Attributive (before a noun): it inflects in plural/definite.
  • en betalt tjeneste; den betalte tjenesten; betalte tjenester; de betalte tjenestene.

Is Det meste singular or plural for verb agreement?

Singular neuter. Use singular verb forms: Det meste er … / var … / skal være … (not “er/var” with plural agreement).

Can I say Mest er allerede betalt or Det mest er …?

No. Use Det meste.

• Mest alone rarely works as a pronoun like that.
• Det mest must be followed by an adjective: det mest sannsynlige, det mest interessante.

Are there alternatives to allerede for “already”?

• Alt can mean “already” in many varieties and can sound informal/regional: Det meste er alt betalt.
• Nynorsk uses allereie: Det meste er allereie betalt.
• Don’t use før for “already” in this structure; før means “before.”

How do I say the opposite: “Most of it isn’t paid yet”?

• Det meste er ikke betalt ennå.
• Slightly more formal: Det meste er ennå ikke betalt. Note: ennå = “yet/still” (time). Ennda/enda is common in speech for time, but ennå is the standard spelling.

Any quick pronunciation tips?

• Det: often “deh” (the t is usually silent).
• meste: “MEH-steh” (stress on ME-).
• er: short “ehr.”
• allerede: “al-le-REH-deh” (main stress on the RE).
• betalt: “be-TAHLT” (long a like in “father”; final t is pronounced). Norwegian r is a tapped/trilled sound.

How would this look in a past-time narrative?

Det meste var allerede betalt. (Past of er to match a past point of view.)