Jeg var trøtt hele dagen.

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Breakdown of Jeg var trøtt hele dagen.

• være: to be
• dagen: the day
• trøtt: tired

Questions & Answers about Jeg var trøtt hele dagen.

What does each word in Jeg var trøtt hele dagen literally mean?

Word by word:

• Jeg = I
• var = was (past tense of å være = to be)
• trøtt = tired
• hele = whole / entire / all (of the)
• dagen = the day (dag = day, -en is the definite ending the)

So the structure is very similar to English: I was tired all (the) day.

Why is the past tense var used here instead of er or har vært?

• var = simple past (was):
  Jeg var trøtt hele dagen. = I was tired all day (yesterday / earlier).

• er = present (am / is / are):
  Jeg er trøtt hele dagen. is normally wrong in standard Norwegian, because hele dagen describes a finished time span in the past or on a specific day, not a general habit right now.

• har vært = present perfect (have been):
  Jeg har vært trøtt hele dagen. = I have been tired all day.
  This is used when the day is still ongoing (for example, you say it in the evening of the same day).

So:

• Talking about an earlier, finished day → var
• Talking about today so far → har vært

How is the verb å være (to be) conjugated in Norwegian?