Vårt hus er større enn deres hus.

Our house is bigger than their house.

Breakdown of Vårt hus er større enn deres hus.

• være: to be
• huset: the house
• enn: than
• vårt: our
• deres: their
• større: larger

Questions & Answers about Vårt hus er større enn deres hus.

What is the difference between vårt, vår, and våre?

They are all forms of our, but they agree with the noun:

• vårt – used with neuter singular nouns
  
  • vårt hus (our house) – hus is neuter.
• vår – used with masculine and feminine singular nouns
  
  • vår bil (our car) – bil is masculine.
• våre – used with plural nouns (all genders)
  
  • våre hus (our houses)
  • våre biler (our cars)

In the sentence, hus is neuter singular, so you must use vårt.

Why is there no article like et in vårt hus?

In Norwegian, when a possessive pronoun comes before the noun, you normally do not use an article:

• et hus (a house)
• vårt hus (our house) – not et vårt hus

If you put the possessive after the noun, you use the definite form instead:

• huset vårt (our house)

So:

• vårt hus = our house (indefinite, possessive first)
• huset vårt = our house (definite, possessive last)

Both are correct, but huset vårt is more common in everyday speech.

Why is hus the same in singular and plural? How do its forms work?

Hus is a neuter noun with a slightly irregular pattern. Its main forms are:

• et hus – a house (indefinite singular)
• huset – the house (definite singular)
• hus – houses (indefinite plural)
• husene – the houses (definite plural)

So:

• vårt hus = our house
• våre hus = our houses

In the sentence, hus is singular because the possessive is singular: vårt hus (not våre hus).

What does større mean, and how is it formed?

Større means bigger or larger. It is the comparative form of the adjective stor (big):

• stor – big (positive)
• større – bigger (comparative)
• størst – biggest (superlative)

So er større enn means is bigger than.

Why do we use enn and not som for this comparison?

In Norwegian:

• Use enn after a comparative adjective (større, mindre, bedre, etc.):

  • større enn (bigger than)
  • mindre enn (smaller than)
  • bedre enn (better than)

• Use som in equality comparisons:

  • like stor som (as big as)
  • så stor som (as big as)

So:

• Vårt hus er større enn deres hus. – Our house is bigger than their house.
• Vårt hus er like stort som deres hus. – Our house is as big as their house.

Could you drop the second hus and just say Vårt hus er større enn deres?

Yes. That is completely natural:

• Vårt hus er større enn deres.

Here deres stands for deres hus (their house). The meaning stays the same, and in everyday speech it’s common to avoid repeating the noun when it’s clear from context.

What exactly does deres mean? Is it only their?

Deres has two main uses:

1. their – third person plural possessive
   
   • deres hus – their house
2. your (formal or polite, singular or plural)
   
   • Deres bil står her. – Your car is here. (very formal, e.g., in letters)

In this sentence, context tells us it means their. Norwegian doesn’t change the form of deres for gender or number, so it stays the same with all nouns.

Why does vårt change with gender, but deres does not?

Norwegian possessive pronouns behave in two groups:

• vår / vårt / våre – change form to agree with the noun:
  • vår bil, vårt hus, våre biler
• min / mi / mitt / mine, din / di / ditt / dine – also change
• hans, hennes, deres, sin / si / sitt / sine – some of these do not change:
  • hans bok, hans hus
  • deres bok, deres hus

Deres is invariable; it does not change for gender, number, or definiteness. Vårt is the neuter singular form of vår and must agree with the noun’s gender and number.

Could you also say Huset vårt er større enn deres hus? Is the meaning different?

Yes, you can say:

• Huset vårt er større enn deres hus.

This uses the definite form huset + possessive after the noun (huset vårt).

Meaning-wise, it is almost the same as Vårt hus er større enn deres hus. The main difference is style:

• Huset vårt – more common, neutral in everyday speech.
• Vårt hus – perfectly correct, but can sound a bit more formal, emphatic, or written.

Why is it vårt hus er større and not er mer stor?

In Norwegian, most common one-syllable adjectives form the comparative by changing the word itself, not by adding mer:

• stor – større – størst (big – bigger – biggest)
• lang – lengre – lengst (long – longer – longest)
• gammel – eldre – eldst (old – older – oldest)

Mer (more) is used with many longer adjectives, especially two-syllable or three-syllable ones:

• interessant – mer interessant – mest interessant

So større is the correct comparative form of stor; mer stor is ungrammatical in standard Norwegian.