Kneet gjør vondt i dag.

The knee hurts today.

Breakdown of Kneet gjør vondt i dag.

• i dag: today
• gjøre vondt: to hurt
• kneet: the knee

Questions & Answers about Kneet gjør vondt i dag.

Why is it kneet and not kne at the beginning of the sentence?

Kneet is the definite form of the noun kne (knee).

• et kne = a knee (indefinite, neuter)
• kneet = the knee (definite, neuter)

In Norwegian, you normally mark definiteness by adding an ending to the noun, not by using a separate word like the. So kneet gjør vondt literally means the knee hurts / the knee is hurting.

Why is the adjective vondt and not vond?

The base adjective is vond (painful, sore, bad), but:

• vond = common gender singular
• vondt = neuter singular
• vonde = plural / definite

In the expression gjøre vondt (to hurt), vondt is used in the neuter form because the phrase behaves a bit like det er vondt (it is painful). Here vondt is almost like an adverbial painfully.

So you say:

• Det gjør vondt. = It hurts.
• Kneet gjør vondt. = The knee hurts.

You do not say Kneet gjør vond in this meaning.

Why do you say gjør vondt instead of just using a verb that means “to hurt”?

Norwegian often expresses “to hurt / to be painful” with the construction:

• gjøre vondt = to hurt, to be painful

So:

• Kneet gjør vondt. = The knee hurts.
• Det gjør vondt. = It hurts.

There is also a verb å smerte (to ache), but it sounds more formal or medical and is far less common in everyday speech than gjøre vondt or ha vondt i.

Could I translate Kneet gjør vondt i dag literally as “The knee does pain today”?

As a literal, word‑for‑word translation, yes, something like “The knee does pain today” is close to the structure:

• kneet = the knee
• gjør = does / makes
• vondt = painful / pain (functioning like “pain”)
• i dag = today

But that sounds unnatural in English. The correct natural English translations are:

• My knee hurts today.
• The knee hurts today.

So think of gjøre vondt as one chunk meaning “to hurt / to be painful”, rather than translating gjør literally as does here.

Why is the subject the knee (kneet) and not jeg (I), like in English “I have a sore knee”?

Norwegian allows two common patterns with pain in body parts:

1. Body part as subject + gjøre vondt

   • Kneet gjør vondt. = The knee hurts.

2. Person as subject + ha vondt i + body part

   • Jeg har vondt i kneet. = I have pain in the knee / My knee hurts.

English usually puts the person as the subject (I have a headache, My back hurts), whereas Norwegian often makes the body part the subject when using gjøre vondt.

Both Norwegian patterns are very natural; they just use different grammar to express the same idea.

Can I say Kneet mitt gjør vondt i dag? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Kneet mitt gjør vondt i dag. = My knee hurts today.

Differences in nuance:

• Kneet gjør vondt i dag.
  Neutral, already usually understood as my knee from context (it’s your body you’re talking about).

• Kneet mitt gjør vondt i dag.
  Slightly more explicit/emphatic that it’s my knee, e.g. if you are contrasting it with someone else’s knee or with another body part.

In normal conversation about your own pain, Kneet gjør vondt i dag is enough.

Is kneet a neuter noun? How do its forms work?

Yes, kne is neuter (intetkjønn).

The main forms are:

• et kne = a knee (indefinite, singular)
• kne = knees (indefinite, plural; same spelling as singular)
• kneet = the knee (definite, singular)
• knærne (or knea in some varieties) = the knees (definite, plural)

So kneet in the sentence is the knee, definite singular neuter.

Why does kneet have two e’s in the spelling?

The base word is kne and the definite neuter ending is -et.

When you combine them:

• kne + et → kneet

Writing kneet with two e’s simply shows kne + et. Pronunciation is roughly like “KNEH-eh” in many accents, with a long e sound followed by a short ending vowel.

How is kneet pronounced, especially the kn at the start?

In standard Eastern Norwegian, kneet is typically pronounced approximately:

• [ˈkneːə]

Key points:

• k is pronounced (unlike in English knee, where k is silent).
• kn is a consonant cluster: you hear both k and n.
• The e is long in kne‑, and the final -et is usually a weak vowel (like a short uh).

So you could approximate it in English as “KNEH-eh”, with both k and n pronounced.

Why is it i dag as two words and not one word?

I dag is always written as two separate words in Norwegian:

• i = in
• dag = day

Historically, it is literally “in (this) day”, but as a fixed expression it simply means today.

You can put it at the end or the beginning of the sentence:

• Kneet gjør vondt i dag.
• I dag gjør kneet vondt.

Both are correct; the version at the beginning puts more emphasis on today.

Is the word order Kneet gjør vondt i dag fixed, or can I move things around?

You can vary the order somewhat, mainly for emphasis:

• Kneet gjør vondt i dag.
  Neutral, very common.

• I dag gjør kneet vondt.
  Emphasis on today (as opposed to other days).

You would not normally split gjør vondt or move i dag into the middle of it. Keep gjør vondt together and i dag as a time expression at the beginning or end.

Could I also say Jeg har vondt i kneet i dag? Is that the same?

Yes, very natural:

• Jeg har vondt i kneet i dag.
  Literally: I have pain in the knee today.

Meaning-wise, it is practically the same as:

• Kneet gjør vondt i dag. = My knee hurts today.

Both are very common in everyday Norwegian. Jeg har vondt i kneet might feel slightly more person‑centred (“I have pain”), while Kneet gjør vondt focuses on the body part (“the knee hurts”), but in context they’re interchangeable for most speakers.