Frihet til å elske hvem man vil er viktig for alle.

Freedom to love whomever you want is important for everyone.

Breakdown of Frihet til å elske hvem man vil er viktig for alle.

• være: to be
• til: to
• å: to
• viktig: important

Questions & Answers about Frihet til å elske hvem man vil er viktig for alle.

Why is there no article before frihet? In English we say “The freedom to love…”, but here it is just Frihet.

Norwegian often drops the article when talking about abstract, general concepts such as frihet (freedom), kjærlighet (love), rettferdighet (justice), etc.

• Frihet til å elske hvem man vil er viktig for alle.
  = Freedom to love whoever one wants is important for everyone.

If you say:

• Friheten til å elske hvem man vil er viktig for alle.

it is also correct, but it sounds a bit more specific or more rhetorical, like “That particular freedom / this freedom to love whoever one wants…”.

So:

• No article (frihet) = talking about freedom as a general idea.
• Definite article (friheten) = the specific, well-known freedom (more emphatic or specific).

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Why do we say frihet til å elske and not frihet å elske?