Sjefen vil støtte planen.

The boss wants to support the plan.

Breakdown of Sjefen vil støtte planen.

• vil: want
• planen: the plan
• sjefen: the boss
• støtte: to support

Questions & Answers about Sjefen vil støtte planen.

Why is it “sjefen” and not just “sjef”?

Norwegian marks definiteness with an ending on the noun:

• en sjef = a boss (indefinite, singular)
• sjefen = the boss (definite, singular)

So -en is the definite singular ending for masculine nouns like sjef.

In this sentence, we’re talking about a specific boss, so Norwegian uses the definite form sjefen, not just sjef. English uses the article “the boss”; Norwegian builds “the” into the noun: sjefen.

Why is it “planen” and not just “plan”?

Same principle as with sjefen:

• en plan = a plan
• planen = the plan

Again, -en is the definite singular ending. The sentence refers to a particular plan, so Norwegian uses planen (the plan), not en plan (a plan).

Is “vil” just the same as English “will” for the future?

Not exactly. Vil overlaps with English “will”, but it mainly expresses:

1. Willingness / desire / intention

   • Sjefen vil støtte planen.
     = The boss wants to support the plan / is willing to support the plan.

2. Future, but more as a natural/likely outcome or planned/intended action.
   In many everyday sentences, you can translate vil as “will”, but you should remember the “want/intend” nuance is strong.

If you want a neutral, more “pure future” feeling, Norwegian often uses time expressions instead of a special future tense, e.g.:

• Sjefen skal støtte planen i morgen.
• Sjefen kommer til å støtte planen.

So: vil ≈ wants to / will depending on context.

Why is there no “å” before “støtte”?

After modal verbs like:

• vil (want to / will)
• skal (shall / is going to)
• må (must / have to)
• kan (can)
• bør (should)

we use the bare infinitive, without å:

• Sjefen vil støtte planen. (The boss wants to/will support the plan.)
• Jeg kan snakke norsk. (I can speak Norwegian.)
• Vi må gjøre det. (We must do it.)

If støtte is not after a modal, it usually needs å:

• Sjefen liker å støtte planen. (The boss likes to support the plan.)

What part of the sentence is the subject, verb, and object?

• Subject: Sjefen (the boss) – the one doing the action
• Conjugated verb (modal): vil
• Infinitive (main verb): støtte
• Object: planen (the plan) – what is being supported

So the structure is:

Subject – modal verb – infinitive – object
Sjefen – vil – støtte – planen

In Norwegian main clauses the verb is supposed to be in second position (V2). Which verb is “second” here?

In the Norwegian V2 rule, it is the conjugated verb that must be in second position.

In the sentence:

• 1st element: Sjefen (subject)
• 2nd element: vil (conjugated verb)
• Then comes: støtte planen (infinitive + object)

So vil is the verb that satisfies the V2 requirement. The infinitive støtte is not counted for this rule.

How would I make this sentence negative?

Place ikke (not) after the conjugated verb vil and before the infinitive støtte:

• Sjefen vil ikke støtte planen.
  = The boss will not / does not want to support the plan.

Word order pattern:

Subject – conjugated verb – ikke – infinitive – object
Sjefen – vil – ikke – støtte – planen

How would this look in the past (e.g. “The boss wanted to support the plan”)?

Use the past form of vil, which is ville:

• Sjefen ville støtte planen.
  = The boss wanted to support the plan / would support the plan.

Again, støtte stays in the infinitive. Only the modal verb changes:

• vil støtte → wants to / will support
• ville støtte → wanted to / would support

How would I put this sentence into a question in Norwegian?

Simply move the conjugated verb vil to the first position:

• Vil sjefen støtte planen?
  = Will the boss support the plan? / Does the boss want to support the plan?

Structure:

Verb – subject – rest
Vil – sjefen – støtte planen?

The infinitive støtte and object planen stay where they are.

How would I replace “sjefen” and “planen” with pronouns?

Assume the boss is male and the plan is masculine (which plan is):

• Sjefen vil støtte planen.
  → Han vil støtte den.
  = He wants to/will support it.

Key points:

• han = he (subject pronoun, replaces sjefen)
• den = it (for masculine or feminine singular nouns, replaces planen)

If the boss were female, you’d say:

• Hun vil støtte den. = She will support it.

How would I say this in the plural, like “The bosses will support the plans”?

Make both nouns plural and definite:

• en sjef → sjefen → sjefer → sjefene
• en plan → planen → planer → planene

So the sentence becomes:

• Sjefene vil støtte planene.
  = The bosses will support the plans.

Structure remains the same; only the nouns change to definite plural forms: sjefene, planene.