Breakdown of Onkelen min var et viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
Questions & Answers about Onkelen min var et viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
Norwegian allows both orders, but the usual, neutral way is:
- noun + possessive: onkelen min (my uncle)
This is called postposed possessive and is the default in everyday speech.
You can also say:
- possessive + noun: min onkel
This preposed possessive is used more for emphasis, contrast, or style. For example:
- Min onkel var et viktig forbilde …
→ My uncle (as opposed to someone else) was an important role model …
So your sentence with Onkelen min is the normal, unmarked choice. Min onkel would sound a bit more emphatic or formal, but is also correct.
Yes, this is the famous “double definiteness” in Norwegian, and it’s normal and required in this structure.
- en onkel = an uncle (indefinite)
- onkelen = the uncle (definite)
- onkelen min = my uncle
When the possessive comes after the noun (onkelen min), the noun must be in the definite form (-en / -a / -et):
- boka mi = my book (literally the-book my)
- huset vårt = our house (literally the-house our)
When the possessive comes before the noun, you don’t add the definite ending:
- min onkel (not min onkelen)
- min bok (not min boka)
So:
- Onkelen min → definite suffix -en
- min (postposed possessive)
- Min onkel → no suffix with min first (preposed possessive)
Both are correct, but the grammar pattern is different.
Var is the past tense of å være (to be):
- er = is / am / are (present)
- var = was / were (past)
The sentence refers to a finished period in the past (your childhood), so Norwegian uses the past tense:
- Onkelen min var et viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
→ My uncle was an important role model for me in my childhood.
If you said:
- Onkelen min er et viktig forbilde for meg.
that would mean “My uncle is an important role model for me now” (still true in the present).
In Norwegian, every noun has a grammatical gender:
- en for masculine
- ei (or en) for feminine
- et for neuter
The noun forbilde (role model) is neuter, so the correct indefinite article is et:
- et forbilde = a role model
- forbildet = the role model
- flere forbilder = several role models
- forbildene = the role models
So you must say et viktig forbilde, not en viktig forbilde. The gender is something you just have to learn with each noun.
Adjectives in Norwegian usually change to agree with gender and number. In the neuter singular indefinite, many adjectives get a -t:
- en stor bil → et stort hus → store biler / hus
- en grønn stol → et grønt eple → grønne stoler / epler
However, adjectives that end in -ig, -lig, -sk, and -s usually do not add -t in the neuter:
- viktig → et viktig spørsmål
- hyggelig → et hyggelig brev
- norsk → et norsk ord
So the correct form is:
- et viktig forbilde (not viktigt)
Forbilde is very close to “role model” in English:
- a person you look up to
- someone whose behavior or values you want to imitate
- often used in contexts like children, youth, ethics, leadership, etc.
Examples:
- Hun er et godt forbilde for barna.
She is a good role model for the children.
Compared to some English words:
- role model → best match for forbilde
- idol (idol) → stronger focus on admiration/fame
- mentor (mentor) → emphasizes guidance and teaching
So et viktig forbilde is best understood as “an important role model.”
In Norwegian, the noun forbilde normally takes the preposition for when you say who it is a role model for:
- et forbilde for meg = a role model for me
- et forbilde for barna = a role model for the children
The pattern is:
- (noen) er et forbilde for (noen)
someone is a role model for someone
You cannot drop the preposition here:
- ❌ et viktig forbilde meg
- ✅ et viktig forbilde for meg
This is just how the verb–noun–preposition pattern works in Norwegian. You have a similar pattern in English: you also say “a role model for me”, not “a role model me.”
Yes, Norwegian word order is somewhat flexible for these prepositional phrases, as long as the sentence stays clear and natural.
Your original sentence:
- Onkelen min var et viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
Other acceptable variants (with slightly different emphasis):
Onkelen min var for meg et viktig forbilde i barndommen.
(emphasizes for me more)Onkelen min var et viktig forbilde i barndommen for meg.
(focus slightly more on the time frame first, then for me)
The most natural and common is still the original order:
- … et viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
If you move things too much, it can start to sound heavy or poetic, but the three versions above are all fine.
All of these are possible, with slightly different style or nuance:
i barndommen
- literally “in the childhood” (definite form)
- very natural and common, slightly general: “in (my) childhood”
i min barndom
- literally “in my childhood”
- a bit more explicit or formal; clearly stressing that it is your childhood
da jeg var barn
- literally “when I was a child”
- focuses more on the time period as a situation rather than a noun phrase
All can work:
- Onkelen min var et viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
- Onkelen min var et viktig forbilde for meg i min barndom.
- Onkelen min var et viktig forbilde for meg da jeg var barn.
The first is the most compact and idiomatic in many contexts.
Barndom is a noun:
- barndom = childhood (indefinite)
- barndommen = the childhood (definite)
Like other nouns:
- en barndom = a childhood
- barndommen = the childhood
In expressions with prepositions, Norwegian often uses the definite form where English uses no article:
- i barndommen = in (my/one’s) childhood
- i barnehagen = in kindergarten
- på skolen = at school
So i barndommen is the natural fixed expression for “in (my) childhood.”
Common options, all correct but with slightly different emphasis:
With alltid:
- Onkelen min var alltid et viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
(He was always an important role model for me in my childhood.)
With virkelig:
- Onkelen min var et virkelig viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
(He was a really important role model for me…)
You can also put virkelig before the adjective:
- Onkelen min var et veldig viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
- Onkelen min var et utrolig viktig forbilde for meg i barndommen.
General guideline:
- Adverbs like alltid, ofte, aldri usually go right after the verb.
- Degree adverbs like veldig, virkelig, utrolig usually go before the adjective (viktig).
If you wanted to say “important role models” instead of “an important role model”, you’d pluralize both the noun and the adjective:
- et viktig forbilde → viktige forbilder
Examples:
- Onkelen min og tanta mi var viktige forbilder for meg i barndommen.
My uncle and my aunt were important role models for me in my childhood.
Or with the same uncle as one of several:
- Flere voksne rundt meg var viktige forbilder for meg i barndommen.
Several adults around me were important role models for me in my childhood.
Notice:
- plural indefinite: viktige forbilder
- plural definite: de viktige forbildene
Using a standard Eastern Norwegian pronunciation (approximate IPA and English hints):
onkelen
- IPA: [ˈʊŋkələn]
- Roughly: OONG-ke-len
- on like English “oong” (short u, lips rounded)
- -kel- like “kel” in Kell-
- final -en is a short, light -en
forbilde
- IPA: [ˈfɔrˌbɪldə]
- Roughly: FOR-bil-de
- for like English “for” but shorter
- bil like “bill”
- -de like a light “deh”
barndommen
- IPA: [ˈbɑːɳdɔmˌmən]
- Roughly: BARN-dom-men
- barn like English “barn” but with a clear a
- dom like English “dom” in kingdom
- final -men is a light “men”
Stress pattern:
- ON-kelen
- FOR-bil-de (main stress on FOR, secondary on bil)
- BARN-dom-men (main stress on BARN)