Mental helse er viktig for alle.

Mental health is important for everyone.

Breakdown of Mental helse er viktig for alle.

• være: to be
• viktig: important
• for: for
• alle: everyone

Questions & Answers about Mental helse er viktig for alle.

Why is there no article before mental helse? In English we say mental health, but we don’t say a mental health either. How does this work in Norwegian?

In Norwegian, helse can be used like an uncountable, abstract noun, just like health in English.

• Mental helse er viktig.
  = Mental health is important. (no article in either language)

You would only use an article (en/ei) if you were talking about a specific, countable instance of health, which is rare:

• Helsen min er dårlig. = My health is bad. (definite form with -en)

For general statements about health as a concept, Norwegian normally uses the bare noun: helse, not en helse.

Why is it mental helse and not mentale helse? Don’t adjectives usually take an -e ending?

You’re right that most native Norwegian adjectives take an -e ending in front of an indefinite plural noun or a definite noun (and sometimes after a possessive).

However, mental here is a loanword adjective and part of a kind of fixed phrase. In modern usage:

• mental helse is the standard, set expression
• mentale helse is possible in some contexts, but sounds less idiomatic in this specific phrase

Think of mental here almost like the first part of a compound noun, similar to:

• fysisk helse (physical health)
• psykisk helse (mental/psychological health – actually more common than mental helse)

So while adjective agreement is a real rule, set phrases and some loanwords can behave a bit differently. The natural choice is mental helse.