Barna skjuler seg i hagen.

the child

Breakdown of Barna skjuler seg i hagen.

• i: in
• hagen: the garden
• skjule: to hide

Questions & Answers about Barna skjuler seg i hagen.

What does barna literally mean, and why does it end in -a?

Barna means “the children”.

• The basic noun is et barn = a child (neuter noun).
• Indefinite plural is barn = children.
• Definite plural is barna = the children.

So the -a ending here is the definite plural ending for many neuter nouns: barn → barna.

Is there a form like barnene, and if so, what’s the difference from barna?

In standard Bokmål, barna is the usual and recommended form for “the children”.
A form barnene is sometimes heard in speech or seen in very colloquial writing, but it is non‑standard or dialectal. If you’re learning standard Norwegian, you should use:

• barnet = the child
• barna = the children

Why is it skjuler seg and not just skjuler?

In Norwegian, skjule (noen/noe) normally means “to hide someone/something” (a direct object).
To say “hide (oneself)”, you make it reflexive:

• skjule seg = to hide oneself

So:

• Barna skjuler noe i hagen. = The children are hiding something in the garden.
• Barna skjuler seg i hagen. = The children are hiding (themselves) in the garden.

Without seg, the sentence would sound incomplete, as if you forgot to mention what they are hiding.