Søskenet mitt er yngre enn meg.

My sibling is younger than me.

Breakdown of Søskenet mitt er yngre enn meg.

• være: to be
• meg: me
• enn: than
• mitt: my
• ung: young
• søskenet: the sibling

Questions & Answers about Søskenet mitt er yngre enn meg.

What exactly does søskenet mean? Is it singular or plural?

Søskenet is singular and means the sibling.

• Indefinite singular: et søsken = a sibling
• Definite singular: søskenet = the sibling
• Indefinite plural: søsken = siblings
• Definite plural: søskena / søskenene = the siblings

So Søskenet mitt means my sibling (one person), not my siblings.

Why does søskenet end in -et?

The ending -et is the neuter definite singular ending.

• et søsken = a sibling (neuter noun)
• søskenet = the sibling

Other examples with the same pattern:

• et hus → huset (a house → the house)
• et barn → barnet (a child → the child)

So -et here just says the.

Why is it mitt and not min in søskenet mitt?

Norwegian possessives agree with the gender and number of the noun.

For min / mitt / mine:

• min – for masculine and common gender nouns: bilen min (my car)
• mi – for explicitly feminine nouns (optional in Bokmål): søstera mi (my sister)
• mitt – for neuter singular nouns: huset mitt (my house), søskenet mitt (my sibling)
• mine – for all plurals: vennene mine (my friends), søskena mine (my siblings)

Because søsken is a neuter noun, the correct possessive is mitt.

Why is the possessive placed after the noun: søskenet mitt instead of mitt søsken?

Both word orders are possible, but they are used a bit differently.

1. Noun + definite ending + possessive after it

   • søskenet mitt
   • This is the most common and neutral way.
   • It is often used for things that are already known or specific.

2. Possessive before the noun (no definite ending)

   • mitt søsken
   • Grammatically correct, but sounds less common here and a bit more formal or emphatic.
   • Often used when you want to emphasize the owner:
     
     • Mitt søsken er yngre enn deg, ikke ditt.
       (My sibling is younger than you, not yours.)

In everyday speech, søskenet mitt is what you will normally hear.

Could I say broren min or søstera mi instead of søskenet mitt?

Yes. In practice, Norwegians much more often say brother or sister than sibling.

Examples:

• Broren min er yngre enn meg. – My brother is younger than me.
• Søstera mi er yngre enn meg. – My sister is younger than me.

Søskenet mitt is gender‑neutral and does not tell you whether it is a brother or a sister, which can be useful if:

• you want to be neutral, or
• the gender is not important.

How do I say my siblings are younger than me?

Use the plural of søsken:

• Søskena mine er yngre enn meg.
• Søskenene mine er yngre enn meg.

Both søskena and søskenene mean the siblings; søskena is a shorter form, søskenene a full form. Both are accepted in Bokmål.

Structure:

• søskena / søskenene = the siblings
• mine = my (plural)
• er yngre enn meg = are younger than me

Why is it yngre and not something like mer ung?

Norwegian normally forms comparatives of adjectives in two ways:

1. Add -ere:

   • billig → billigere (cheap → cheaper)
   • vakker → vakrere (beautiful → more beautiful)

2. Use an irregular comparative form, often for very common adjectives, just like in English (good → better, bad → worse).

Ung (young) is one of those with an irregular comparative:

• ung → yngre (young → younger)

So er yngre enn = is younger than.

What does enn mean, and how is it used?

Enn is the word used in comparisons, like English than.

Typical pattern:

• større enn = bigger than
• bedre enn = better than
• yngre enn = younger than

So er yngre enn meg = is younger than me.

Be careful not to confuse:

• en (without double n) = the number one or the indefinite article a / an
• enn (with double n) = than

Why is it meg and not jeg after enn?

In Norwegian, both are possible in this kind of comparison, but they differ in style:

• Søskenet mitt er yngre enn meg.

  • Very natural, everyday Norwegian.
  • Similar to English younger than me.

• Søskenet mitt er yngre enn jeg (er).

  • More formal and literary.
  • Similar to English younger than I (am).

In normal spoken and informal written Norwegian, enn meg is by far the most common choice.
In very formal writing, some people prefer enn jeg (er).

Does the sentence say anything about whether the sibling is male or female?

No. The word søsken is gender‑neutral.

Søskenet mitt er yngre enn meg. only tells you:

• it is one sibling,
• it belongs to me,
• that sibling is younger than me,

but not whether it is a brother or a sister. For that you would use:

• Broren min er yngre enn meg. – my brother
• Søstera mi er yngre enn meg. – my sister