Barna synes årstiden er spennende.

The children think the season is exciting.

Breakdown of Barna synes årstiden er spennende.

• være: to be
• barnet: the child
• synes: to think
• spennende: exciting
• årstiden: the season

Questions & Answers about Barna synes årstiden er spennende.

What exactly does synes mean here, and how is it different from tror and mener?

Synes expresses a subjective opinion based on your own experience or feelings, often about something you can see or sense.

• Barna synes årstiden er spennende.
  → The children think/feel the season is exciting.

Differences:

• synes – “think” as in have an opinion / find something (to be)
  
  • Jeg synes filmen er bra. – I think the movie is good / I like it.
• tror – “think” as in believe, guess, assume (without necessarily having direct experience)
  
  • Jeg tror det blir regn. – I think (I believe) it will rain.
• mener – “mean / be of the opinion (often stronger, more deliberate, often about ideas or issues)
  
  • *Jeg mener at dette er feil.
  – I am of the opinion that this is wrong.

In this sentence, synes is correct because the children experience the season and have an opinion about it.

Why is it årstiden and not just årstid?

Årstiden is the definite form: “the season”, not just “a season”.

• en/ei årstid – a season (indefinite singular)
• årstiden – the season (definite singular)

Norwegian often uses the definite form when English might also say “the”, especially when:

• We are talking about a specific, known thing:
  • Barna synes årstiden er spennende.
    → The children think the (current/this) season is exciting.
• The context makes clear which season is meant (e.g. it’s autumn right now).

What gender is årstid, and what are its main forms?

In Bokmål, årstid can be masculine or feminine. Dictionaries usually give it as en/ei årstid.

Main patterns:

• Indefinite singular: en/ei årstid – a season
• Definite singular: årstiden / årstida – the season
• Indefinite plural: årstider – seasons
• Definite plural: årstidene – the seasons

In the sentence, årstiden is the standard masculine definite form.

Why is it barna and not barnene?

Barn is a special (irregular) neuter noun.

Its forms are:

• et barn – a child
• barnet – the child
• barn – children (indefinite plural)
• barna – the children (definite plural)

There is no form barnene in standard Bokmål.
So barna is the only correct way to say “the children” with this word.

Can you show the full paradigm for barn to compare with English?

Yes:

• Singular:
  • et barn – a child
  • barnet – the child
• Plural:
  • barn – children
  • barna – the children

So the sentence Barna synes årstiden er spennende. literally is:

• Barna – The children
• synes – think / find
• årstiden – the season
• er spennende – is exciting

Why doesn’t spennende change form? Should it agree with årstiden?

Spennende is one of the adjectives that does not change for gender, number, or definiteness. It has the same form in all cases:

• en spennende film – an exciting film
• ei spennende bok – an exciting book
• et spennende spill – an exciting game
• spennende filmer – exciting films
• den spennende filmen – the exciting film
• årstiden er spennende – the season is exciting

Most adjectives change (fin – fint – fine), but adjectives ending in -ende (present participles) like spennende, interessant, skremmende are typically invariable in modern Bokmål.

Could I also say Barna synes at årstiden er spennende? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can.

• Barna synes årstiden er spennende.
• Barna synes at årstiden er spennende.

Both are correct and mean the same thing.

At is a conjunction meaning “that” (in reported speech or thought).
After verbs like synes, tror, mener, sier, the at is often optional in spoken and informal written Norwegian.

Including at can make the structure a little clearer or a little more formal, but there’s no big meaning difference here.

Why isn’t there a det like in Barna synes det er spennende?

There are two slightly different patterns:

1. With a specific thing named:

   • Barna synes (at) årstiden er spennende.
     → The children think the season is exciting.

   Here, årstiden er spennende is a full clause functioning as the object of synes.

2. With “det” as a dummy subject:

   • Barna synes det er spennende.
     → The children think it is exciting.

   Here, det is a dummy “it”, and we don’t say exactly what is exciting. The context must supply that.

If you want to keep årstiden explicit, you use the first pattern (with årstiden as the subject of the embedded clause), not det.

How would I say this in the past tense: The children thought the season was exciting?

You need to change both verbs:

• Barna syntes årstiden var spennende.

Changes:

• synes (present) → syntes (past)
• er (present “is”) → var (past “was”)

So:

• Barna synes årstiden er spennende. – The children think the season is exciting.
• Barna syntes årstiden var spennende. – The children thought the season was exciting.

Could I use liker instead of synes here?

You can, but the meaning shifts a bit:

• Barna synes årstiden er spennende.
  → They think/find the season exciting. (opinion about a quality)
• Barna liker årstiden.
  → They like the season. (simple liking)

If you say:

• Barna liker at årstiden er spennende.

that would mean The children like that the season is exciting—a slightly different structure and focus.

For the given sentence, synes … er spennende is the natural way to express an opinion about a characteristic.

Is the word order årstiden er spennende fixed, or can I move things around?

Inside the clause årstiden er spennende, the normal order is:

• Subject – Verb – Complement: årstiden – er – spennende

You normally cannot reorder it to something like:

• ✗ Er årstiden spennende (as part of this sentence)
  unless you are asking a question:
  • Er årstiden spennende? – Is the season exciting?

In the full sentence:

• Barna synes (at) årstiden er spennende.

the main clause is Barna synes, and the embedded clause keeps normal declarative word order: årstiden er spennende.

Can I front årstiden to say something like “As for the season, the children think it is exciting”?

Yes, you can topicalize årstiden, but you must then keep the clause structure clear. Two natural options:

1. Put årstiden in front as the topic and keep a full clause after:

   • Årstiden synes barna er spennende.
     → Literally: The season, the children think is exciting.

   This is grammatical, but more marked / literary in style.

2. Use a clearer structure with a pause/comma in speech/writing:

   • Når det gjelder årstiden, synes barna den er spennende.
     (As for the season, the children think it is exciting.)

For learners, the safest and most natural is still:

• Barna synes (at) årstiden er spennende.