Questions & Answers about Møtet forrige uke var kort.
Why is it Møtet and not møte?
Møte is the basic form of the noun (a meeting).
Møtet is the definite form (the meeting).
In Norwegian, the definite article (the) is usually added as an ending on the noun:
- et møte = a meeting
- møtet = the meeting
In this sentence, we are talking about a specific, known meeting (the one last week), so Norwegian uses the definite form møtet, just like English uses the meeting.
What gender is møte, and how can I tell from møtet?
Møte is a neuter noun.
You can see that from its indefinite article and ending:
- et møte (neuter singular, indefinite)
- møtet (neuter singular, definite: the meeting)
Many neuter nouns form the definite with -et. However, some common-gender nouns (with en) also have -et in the definite, so you often need to learn the gender with the noun:
- et hus – huset (neuter)
- en tanke – tanken (common gender)
So the dictionary form will usually be shown as et møte to indicate neuter gender.
Why isn’t there a separate word for the before Møtet?