Barna sitter på trappen.

the child

Breakdown of Barna sitter på trappen.

• på: on
• sitte: to sit
• trappen: the stair

Questions & Answers about Barna sitter på trappen.

Why is it barna and not just barn for the children?

Norwegian treats barn (child) a bit differently from many other nouns:

• et barn = a child (indefinite singular, neuter)
• barn = children (indefinite plural – same form as singular)
• barna = the children (definite plural)

So barna already includes the meaning of the. You don’t add an extra word for the in front of it. The definite article is a suffix.

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Why isn’t there a separate word for the in Barna?

Norwegian usually puts the at the end of the noun as an ending, not as a separate word:

• en/ei trapp = a stair / a step
• trappen / trappa = the stair / the steps (depending on context)
• et barn = a child
• barnet = the child
• barn = children
• barna = the children

So barna literally is children-the; that’s how Norwegian expresses the children.

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Does sitter mean sit or are sitting?