Flertallet er enig i planen.

The majority agrees with the plan.

Breakdown of Flertallet er enig i planen.

• planen: the plan
• flertallet: the majority
• være enig i: to agree with

Questions & Answers about Flertallet er enig i planen.

Why is flertallet in the definite form? Could you also say flertall here?

Flertall means “a majority / majority (in general)” and is neuter: et flertall.
Flertallet means “the majority”, a specific one that both speaker and listener know about.

In this sentence we’re clearly talking about a concrete group, for example:

• the majority of the committee
• the majority of the voters
• the majority of the members

So Norwegian uses the definite form: flertallet.

You could say et flertall er enig i planen (“a majority agrees with the plan”), but that would mean some majority (not yet identified). With flertallet, it’s a known, specific majority.

Is flertallet grammatically singular or plural? Why is it er enig and not er enige?

Grammatically, flertall is neuter singular: et flertall – flertallet.

The adjective enig (“in agreement”) behaves like this in Bokmål:

• singular (m/f and neuter): enig
• plural: enige

So strictly according to grammar, the default is:

• Flertallet er enig. – “The majority is in agreement.”

However, flertallet refers to multiple people, so you will also see:

• Flertallet er enige. – “The majority are in agreement (the individual members agree).”

Both forms occur in real usage:

• Flertallet er enig – treats the majority as one unit.
• Flertallet er enige – highlights that the people in the majority each agree.

In many neutral contexts, er enig (singular agreement) is most common and feels slightly more formal/standard.

Why is the preposition i used in enig i planen? In English you “agree with the plan”.

Norwegian splits “agree” in two patterns:

1. Agree with someone

   • å være enig med noen
   • Jeg er enig med deg. – “I agree with you.”

2. Agree about / on something (a proposal, a statement, a plan)

   • å være enig i noe
   • Jeg er enig i planen. – “I agree with the plan.”
   • Jeg er enig i forslaget. – “I agree with the proposal.”

So:

• med → who you agree with (the person/people)
• i → what you agree on/about (the content: plan, proposal, idea, statement)

Saying enig med planen is not idiomatic; you would use enig i planen or change the verb, e.g. for planen, støtter planen (“support the plan”).

Why is it i planen and not just i plan? What does the definite form planen add?

Plan is a common-gender noun:

• en plan – a plan
• planen – the plan

Here we are referring to one specific plan that’s already known in the context:

• A concrete plan that was presented in a meeting
• A plan everyone in the conversation has heard about

So Norwegian prefers the definite form: i planen (“in / with the plan” in the sense of “regarding the plan”).

If you said enig i en plan, it would sound like “agree with a (unspecified) plan”, which is unusual without more explanation. In realistic contexts, this will almost always be i planen because the plan is defined by the situation.

What is the gender and basic forms of plan, and how is it declined?

Plan is a common gender noun (same group as most nouns that take en):

• Indefinite singular: en plan – a plan
• Definite singular: planen – the plan
• Indefinite plural: planer – plans
• Definite plural: planene – the plans

Examples:

• Vi har en plan. – We have a plan.
• Planen er klar. – The plan is ready.
• Vi har mange planer. – We have many plans.
• Planene ble godkjent. – The plans were approved.

How do you pronounce flertallet er enig i planen?

Approximate Bokmål pronunciation (Eastern standard):

• flertallet – [ˈfleːʈɑlːə]

  • fl as in fly
  • er like English “air” but shorter
  • tal like “tahl” (a in “father”)
  • double ll is long /l/
  • ending -et is usually pronounced like a short “e/uh” sound, not a full t

• er – [æːr] or [eːr]

  • similar to English “air” but more closed/short

• enig – [ˈeːnɪ] or [ˈeːnɪg] (the final g is often very weak or dropped)

  • e like in “grey” (long)
  • ni like “nee” but shorter

• i – [iː]

  • like English “ee” in see

• planen – [ˈplɑːnən]

  • pla with a long “ah” (as in “father”)
  • nen like “n’n”

Full sentence (one natural way):
[ˈfleːʈɑlːə æːr ˈeːnɪ iː ˈplɑːnən]

Could you use de fleste instead of flertallet? What is the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• De fleste er enige i planen. – “Most (people) agree with the plan.”

Difference in nuance:

• flertallet – the majority of a clearly defined group, often more formal or report-like (e.g., in minutes, reports, politics).
• de fleste – most people in a looser, more informal sense; does not necessarily sound like a counted or official majority.

So:

• In a meeting report:
  Flertallet er enig i planen.
• In ordinary conversation:
  De fleste er enige i planen.

Why isn’t there a separate article like det before flertallet (e.g. det flertallet)?

Norwegian usually marks definiteness with a suffix on the noun:

• et flertall – a majority
• flertallet – the majority

You only add a separate article (det, den, de) with an adjective or certain other modifiers:

• det store flertallet – the large majority
• det klare flertallet – the clear majority

So without an adjective, you just use the suffixed form:

• Flertallet er enig i planen.
  not: Det flertallet er enig i planen.

How would you turn this sentence into a yes–no question in Norwegian?

Norwegian yes–no questions are usually made by inverting the subject and verb:

• Statement: Flertallet er enig i planen.
• Question: Er flertallet enig i planen? – “Does the majority agree with the plan?”

Word order pattern:

• Statement: Subject – Verb – (rest)
• Question: Verb – Subject – (rest)

Can you add who the majority consists of, like “the majority of the members”? How would that look?

Yes, you can specify the group with av (“of”):

• Flertallet av medlemmene er enig i planen.
  – “The majority of the members agrees with the plan.”

Other examples:

• Flertallet av de ansatte er enig i planen. – The majority of the employees…
• Flertallet av velgerne er enig i planen. – The majority of the voters…

You keep flertallet in the definite form and then add av + group.

Could you say Flertallet er for planen instead? Is that the same meaning?

Flertallet er for planen. is also correct, but the nuance is slightly different:

• er enig i planen – are in agreement with the plan
  Focuses on agreement (they think the plan is right / acceptable).

• er for planen – are for the plan
  Focuses on their stance (they support / are in favour of the plan, as opposed to being against it).

In many real contexts, these can overlap, but:

• If you want to stress consensus or agreement about details, enig i planen is more precise.
• If you want to stress political or value-based support, for planen is more natural.