Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Den er billig, men liten.

Den is a third‑person singular pronoun meaning it (or that) for a gendered, non‑neuter noun – that is, a noun that is grammatically masculine or feminine in Norwegian.

If the thing being talked about is an en‑word (masculine/feminine), like en bil (a car), en veske (a bag), en bok (a book), you use den:
- (Bilen) Den er billig, men liten. – (The car) It is cheap, but small.
If the thing is a neuter noun (an et‑word), you would normally use det instead:
- (Huset) Det er billig, men lite. – (The house) It is cheap, but small.

In this sentence, context (not shown here) must be some en‑word noun, so den is used.

Why is the adjective billig in this form and not billige?

Billig here is a predicative adjective (it comes after er) describing a single thing in the indefinite form. In that situation, you use the basic form of the adjective:

Den er billig. – It is cheap.

You would use billige in these cases:

With plural:
- De er billige. – They are cheap.
With definite singular + noun:
- Den billige bilen – the cheap car
With plural definite + noun:
- De billige bilene – the cheap cars

So in Den er billig, you have:

singular
indefinite
adjective after er

→ so the form is billig, not billige.

Why is it liten and not lite or små?

The adjective liten (small / little) has several forms that depend on gender and number:

liten – masculine/feminine singular indefinite
lite – neuter singular indefinite
små – plural (all genders)

In Den er billig, men liten, the pronoun den tells us the thing is masculine/feminine, so the matching form is liten.

Compare:

(En bil) Den er liten. – The car is small.
(Et hus) Det er lite. – The house is small.
(Bilene) De er små. – The cars are small.

So liten agrees with den (an implied en‑word noun).

Why is there a comma before men?

Men means but and is a coordinating conjunction. In Norwegian, it usually connects two main clauses or two predicate parts that could stand more or less on their own:

Den er billig – clause/predicate 1
(den er) liten – clause/predicate 2 (with an implied den er)

Standard written Norwegian normally places a comma before men in such cases:

Den er billig, men liten.

In longer sentences or formal writing, putting a comma before men is clearly expected.

Can I leave out the comma and write Den er billig men liten?

Yes, in informal or very short sentences, many Norwegians omit the comma:

Den er billig men liten.

This is still readable and common in casual writing.
However, in careful or formal writing, the comma before men is usually preferred and recommended:

Den er billig, men liten.

Can I drop den and say Er billig, men liten?

No. Norwegian normally requires an explicit subject in finite clauses, just like English.

Den er billig, men liten. – correct
Er billig, men liten. – incorrect in normal prose (feels like a fragment, headline, or note)

In things like notes, headlines, or telegraphic style, you might see subjectless fragments, but in normal spoken or written sentences, you need den (or det, han, hun, etc.).

Could I say Den er billig, men den er liten instead?

Yes, that is grammatically correct:

Den er billig, men den er liten.

However, Norwegian (like English) often avoids repetition when the subject and verb are the same in both parts. So people usually omit the repeated pronoun and verb in the second clause:

Den er billig, men (den er) liten.

This shorter version sounds more natural and fluent. The full den er in the second part might be used if you want to emphasize or make the structure very clear, but in normal speech the shorter form is preferred.

Why isn’t there a -t on billig, like billigt?

In Norwegian Bokmål, adjectives that end in -ig, -lig, or -sk do not take -t in the neuter singular:

billig – neuter: et billig hus, huset er billig
hyggelig – neuter: et hyggelig rom, rommet er hyggelig
norsk – neuter: et norsk ord, ordet er norsk

So you do not say billigt in modern standard Bokmål. The correct form is just billig, regardless of gender in this pattern.

That is why billig appears unchanged here and would also stay billig even if the underlying noun were neuter.

How would the sentence change if the thing were neuter, like et hus or et rom?

For a neuter noun (an et‑word), both the pronoun and the adjective liten change:

Det er billig, men lite.

Examples:

(Et hus) Det er billig, men lite. – The house is cheap, but small.
(Et rom) Det er billig, men lite. – The room is cheap, but small.

Changes:

Den → Det (because hus/rom are neuter)
liten → lite (neuter singular form)

Billig stays the same, as explained above.

Does billig always just mean “cheap”, or can it sound negative like in English?

Billig primarily means low in price / inexpensive, and it is often neutral or positive:

Hotellet er billig. – The hotel is cheap / inexpensive.

But, like English cheap, it can have a negative connotation, especially about quality or taste:

Det ser litt billig ut. – It looks a bit cheap / tacky.

Context and tone decide whether it sounds positive (good value) or negative (poor quality, tacky). In some situations, people might choose rimelig (reasonably priced) for a more clearly positive or polite tone.

How do you pronounce Den er billig, men liten?

One common Oslo‑area / standard Bokmål pronunciation (IPA) would be roughly:

Den er billig, men liten
/dɛn ær ˈbɪlɪ mɛn ˈliːtən/

Approximate breakdown:

den – like English den, with a short e
er – like English air but shorter; often very short in fast speech
billig – BIL-li; final g is very soft or almost silent
men – like English men
liten – LEE-ten; long i and a short, light -en

In natural speech this will flow together:
den ær BIL-li, men LEE-ten (with a small pause at the comma).

Can I change the word order, like Billig er den, men liten?

You normally cannot freely change the word order here. The neutral order is:

Den er billig, men liten.

Billig er den, men liten sounds unusual or poetic, not like everyday speech. You might see similar inversions in poetry, slogans, or song lyrics, where rhythm or emphasis matters more than normal grammar, but in ordinary conversation and prose you should stick to:

Den er billig, men liten.