Breakdown of Læreren forklarer verdien av stemmerett i samfunnsfagtimen.
i
in
av
of
forklare
to explain
læreren
the teacher
Questions & Answers about Læreren forklarer verdien av stemmerett i samfunnsfagtimen.
Why is it Læreren (the teacher) and not just Lærer (teacher) at the start of the sentence?
Norwegian normally uses the definite form for a specific, known person or thing, even as the subject of the sentence.
- en lærer = a teacher (indefinite, not a specific one)
- læreren = the teacher (definite, a specific one you and the listener know about)
In this sentence, we are talking about a particular teacher in a particular class, so Norwegian naturally uses Læreren.
If you said En lærer forklarer verdien av stemmerett …, it would sound more like:
- A teacher (some teacher, not a specific one) explains the value of the right to vote …
What tense is forklarer, and why isn’t a form like er i ferd med å forklare used for “is explaining”?
Forklarer is the present tense of the verb å forklare (to explain). In Norwegian, the simple present tense usually covers both:
- explains
- is explaining
So:
- Læreren forklarer … can mean either
- The teacher explains … (general habit) or
- The teacher is explaining … (happening now)
depending on context.
Forms like er i ferd med å forklare or holder på å forklare exist, but they are used only when you really want to emphasize that something is in progress right now. In normal sentences you just use the simple present forklarer.
Why is it verdien (the value) and not verdi (value)?