Organisasjonen gir psykisk støtte til ungdom som føler mye ensomhet.

The organization gives psychological support to young people who feel a lot of loneliness.

Breakdown of Organisasjonen gir psykisk støtte til ungdom som føler mye ensomhet.

• til: to
• gi: to give
• føle: to feel
• som: who
• mye: much
• ungdommen: the youth
• støtten: the support
• ensomheten: the loneliness
• organisasjonen: the organization
• psykisk: psychological

Questions & Answers about Organisasjonen gir psykisk støtte til ungdom som føler mye ensomhet.

Why is it Organisasjonen with -en at the end, instead of just organisasjon?

Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun as a suffix.

• en organisasjon = an organization (indefinite)
• organisasjonen = the organization (definite)

So Organisasjonen gir … means “The organization gives …”, referring to a specific, known organization.

If you just wrote organisasjon gir …, it would sound wrong here: you’d be missing both the article and the usual way of marking definiteness.

What gender is organisasjon, and how does that affect its forms?

Organisasjon is a masculine noun in Bokmål.

Main forms:

• Indefinite singular: (en) organisasjon
• Definite singular: organisasjonen
• Indefinite plural: organisasjoner
• Definite plural: organisasjonene

There isn’t a simple rule to see the gender just from the ending; you usually learn it with the noun (e.g. en organisasjon). The gender then tells you which definite ending you use: here -en.

What’s the difference between psykisk støtte, psykologisk støtte, and mental støtte?

All three are related, but they feel slightly different:

• psykisk støtte

  • Very common.
  • Literally “mental/psychic support”.
  • Often used in contexts of mental health, emotional strain, depression, anxiety, etc.
  • Close in meaning to “support for your mental well‑being”.

• psykologisk støtte

  • Closer to “psychological support” in a technical sense.
  • Sounds a bit more professional/clinical, often connected to methods from psychology (therapy, counselling).

• mental støtte

  • Also understandable, but less common than psykisk støtte in this exact phrase.
  • Feels like a more direct copy of English “mental support”.

In your sentence, psykisk støtte is the most natural and idiomatic everyday choice.

Why do we say gir psykisk støtte instead of just using a verb like støtter?

You can actually say it both ways, but there is a nuance:

• Organisasjonen gir psykisk støtte til ungdom …

  • Literally: The organization gives mental support to young people …
  • Uses the common pattern gi + [type of] støtte til [recipient].
  • Emphasises the act of providing support as a “thing”.

• Organisasjonen støtter ungdom som føler mye ensomhet.

  • Literally: The organization supports young people who feel a lot of loneliness.
  • Uses å støtte as the main verb (“to support”).
  • Slightly more general; doesn’t highlight the type of support as much.

So the original sentence focuses more specifically on mental/psychological support, not just support in a broad sense (money, activities, legal help, etc.).

Why is it til ungdom, not for ungdom or just ungdom after the verb?

Here, til marks the recipient of what is being given:

• gi noe til noen = to give something to someone
  • gi støtte til ungdom = give support to young people

Using for would sound unnatural in this structure:

• gi støtte for ungdom is not idiomatic Norwegian.

Could you drop til and say Organisasjonen gir ungdom psykisk støtte?

• Yes, that’s also possible, and it’s correct.
• Then ungdom becomes an indirect object without a preposition (like English give somebody support).
• Both:
  • gir psykisk støtte til ungdom
  • gir ungdom psykisk støtte are fine. The version with til is very common and maybe a bit clearer for learners.

Why is it til ungdom and not til ungdommer? Where is the plural?

Ungdom can function as a collective / mass noun meaning “youth” as a group:

• til ungdom ≈ to young people / to youth (in general)

If you say til ungdommer, you’re using the countable plural:

• en ungdom = a young person / a youth
• flere ungdommer = several young people

So:

• støtte til ungdom
  = support aimed at youth as a group / age category (general).
• støtte til ungdommer
  = support to a specific set of individual young people.

In many policy or information contexts, til ungdom (collective) is the more natural phrasing.

Can ungdom mean both “youth (as a group)” and “a young person”?

Yes, context decides:

1. Collective / abstract:

   • Ungdom i dag er mer stresset.
     Young people today are more stressed.
   • Støtte til ungdom
     Support for youth / young people (in general).

2. Individual:

   • en ungdom
     a young person / a youth
   • Jeg snakket med en ungdom i går.
     I talked to a young person yesterday.

So in your sentence, ungdom is clearly the collective meaning: young people (in general) who feel a lot of loneliness.

What does som do in ungdom som føler mye ensomhet?

Som is a relative pronoun, like English who/that.

• ungdom som føler mye ensomhet
  = young people who feel a lot of loneliness

Structure:

• ungdom – the noun being described
• som – “who/that”
• føler mye ensomhet – the relative clause that describes what kind of youth we mean

You could not drop som here; it is required to link the clause to ungdom.

Why is it føler mye ensomhet and not føler seg ensomme?

Both are possible, but they say it in slightly different ways:

1. føler mye ensomhet

   • Literally: feel a lot of loneliness.
   • Uses ensomhet (loneliness) as a noun.
   • Sounds a bit more abstract/formal, focusing on the amount/degree of loneliness as a condition.

2. føler seg ensomme

   • Literally: feel (themselves) lonely.
   • Uses føle seg + adj (feel + adjective), very common for emotions:
     • føle seg glad, føle seg trist, føle seg ensom/ensomme.
   • Feels more personal and everyday: “feel lonely”.

So you might often see:

• Organisasjonen gir psykisk støtte til ungdom som føler seg ensomme.

Your original føler mye ensomhet is correct; it just has a slightly more formal, noun-based wording.

Why do we use mye with ensomhet? Could you use veldig instead?

Mye is used with uncountable (mass) nouns to mean “a lot of”:

• mye vann = a lot of water
• mye tid = a lot of time
• mye ensomhet = a lot of loneliness

Ensomhet (loneliness) is an abstract, uncountable noun, so mye is the normal quantifier.

Veldig is mainly used to intensify adjectives/adverbs:

• veldig ensom = very lonely
• løper veldig fort = runs very fast

You don’t say veldig ensomhet in standard Norwegian. Instead you’d say:

• mye ensomhet
• stor ensomhet (“great/considerable loneliness” – more formal)

Is ensomhet related to ensom? How are they different?

Yes. Ensomhet is built from the adjective ensom plus the suffix -het:

• ensom = lonely (adjective)
• ensomhet = loneliness (noun)

Typical uses:

• Han er ensom.
  He is lonely.

• Hun føler seg veldig ensom.
  She feels very lonely.

• Mange unge opplever mye ensomhet.
  Many young people experience a lot of loneliness.

So in your sentence, ensomhet is the thing they feel (loneliness), not a description of them directly (lonely).

Is the word order Organisasjonen gir psykisk støtte til ungdom fixed, or can I change it?

The given order is the most natural:

• Organisasjonen gir psykisk støtte til ungdom …

You do have some flexibility, but you must follow Norwegian word‑order rules. Possible variations:

• Organisasjonen gir ungdom psykisk støtte …
  (no til, ungdom becomes an indirect object)

You normally would not put til ungdom right after the verb and push psykisk støtte to the end in this particular sentence:

• ✗ Organisasjonen gir til ungdom psykisk støtte … (sounds wrong)

So:

• Keep gir
  • (object[s]) together,
• and don’t split the verb + preposition in an unnatural way.

How do you pronounce the tricky words psykisk, ungdom, and ensomhet?

Approximate East‑Norwegian pronunciations:

1. psykisk – mental, psychological

   • IPA (approx.): [ˈsyːkɪsk]
   • Tips:
     • p is silent at the start (like in English “psychology”).
     • y is like German ü or French u (a fronted “oo”).
     • Stress on the first syllable: SY-kisk.

2. ungdom – youth / young person

   • IPA (approx.): [ˈʊŋdɔm]
   • Tips:
     • ng = [ŋ] as in English “sing”.
     • The d is there but fairly soft.
     • The o is close to the Norwegian å sound.
     • Stress on ung-: UNG-dom.

3. ensomhet – loneliness

   • IPA (approx.): [ˈeːnsɔmheːt]
   • Tips:
     • Break it as en-som-het.
     • Stress on EN: EN-som-het.
     • Final -het is like “het” in “helmet” (with a clear t in careful speech).

Putting it all together, a rough “English-style” guide:
Organisasjonen gir psykisk støtte til ungdom som føler mye ensomhet.
→ or-ga-ni-sa-SHØN-en gir SY-kisk STØT-te til UNG-dom som FØ-ler MY-e EN-som-het (with Norwegian vowel qualities).