Questions & Answers about Bestefar er eldst i familien.
Why is Bestefar capitalized? Does it mean “Grandpa” as a name or just “grandfather”?
In this sentence, Bestefar is used like a proper name, similar to Grandpa in English when you speak directly about or to him.
- Bestefar (capitalized) = Grandpa (used as a name)
- Example: Bestefar er eldst i familien. – Grandpa is the oldest in the family.
- bestefar (not capitalized) = grandfather (the role)
- Example: Min bestefar er eldst i familien. – My grandfather is the oldest in the family.
Norwegian often capitalizes kinship words (Bestefar, Mamma, Pappa, Farmor, etc.) when they are used like names.
Is Bestefar definite or indefinite? Why is there no word for “the” or “my”?
Grammatically, bestefar is a masculine noun:
- Indefinite: en bestefar – a grandfather
- Definite: bestefaren – the grandfather
In the sentence Bestefar er eldst i familien, it is neither of those; it’s functioning like a name. When kinship terms are used as names, Norwegian usually:
- Drops the article (en, den)
- Drops the possessive (min, vår)
So Bestefar here really means my/our grandpa, but the possession is understood from context, just like in English when you say Grandpa is tired.
Could you also say Bestefaren er eldst i familien? What would be the difference?