Foreldrene hennes har vært gift i tretti år.

to be

Breakdown of Foreldrene hennes har vært gift i tretti år.

• ha: to have
• året: the year
• hennes: her

Questions & Answers about Foreldrene hennes har vært gift i tretti år.

What exactly does foreldrene mean, and why does it end in -ene?

Foreldrene means “the parents”.

• foreldre = parents (indefinite plural)
• foreldrene = the parents (definite plural)

In Norwegian, the “the” is usually added as an ending on the noun:

• en forelder = a parent
• foreldre = parents
• foreldrene = the parents

In this sentence, we are talking about specific, known parents (hers), so the definite form foreldrene is used.

Why is it foreldrene hennes and not something like “hennes foreldrene”?

Norwegian word order for “the X of Y” is different from English.

The normal pattern is:

• [noun in definite form] + [possessive pronoun]

So you say:

• foreldrene hennes = literally “the parents her” → her parents

You do not say hennes foreldrene. That order is ungrammatical. When the possessive comes after the noun, the noun must be in the definite form (foreldrene).

What is the difference between foreldrene hennes and hennes foreldre?