Questions & Answers about Vi leser teksten høyt sammen.
What does each word in Vi leser teksten høyt sammen literally mean?
Word by word:
- Vi – we
- leser – read / are reading (present tense of å lese = to read)
- teksten – the text (tekst = text, -en = the)
- høyt – aloud / out loud (literally high(ly), but here it means in a loud voice)
- sammen – together
So the whole sentence is literally: We read the text aloud together.
Why is it teksten and not just tekst?
Norwegian marks definiteness with an ending on the noun:
- tekst = text (indefinite, general)
- teksten = the text (definite, a specific text)
In English you put the in front of the noun; in Norwegian you usually add a suffix:
- en tekst = a text
- teksten = the text
Using teksten implies that both speaker and listener know which text is meant (e.g., the one in the book, on the page, in the assignment, etc.). If you said Vi leser en tekst høyt sammen, it would mean We are reading a text aloud together (some unspecified text).