Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Denne samtalen er morsommere enn møtet. - This conversation is more fun than the meeting.

Den is another demonstrative, but it’s mainly used in other positions (often with adjectives: den morsomme samtalen, that/the funny conversation) or for “that” rather than “this”. In standard Bokmål, denne is the normal way to say this before a masculine noun like samtale.

Why is it samtalen and not just samtale after denne?

Norwegian has what’s called double definiteness for most noun phrases with a demonstrative (this/that), a possessive (my/your), or an adjective:

You normally combine:

A determiner (like denne, den, min, den morsomme, etc.), and
A definite noun (-en, -a, -et, -ene ending)

So you get:

denne samtalen – this conversation
den nye bilen – the new car / this new car
min hund or hunden min – my dog / the dog of mine
dette møtet – this meeting

You cannot say:

✗ denne samtale (incorrect in standard Bokmål)
✗ denne møte

The pattern is:

Indefinite: en samtale – a conversation
Definite: samtalen – the conversation
With denne: denne samtalen – this conversation

Why is the adjective morsom changed to morsommere? Why not mer morsom?

Norwegian has two ways to form the comparative of adjectives:

Adding -ere to the adjective (synthetic comparative)
Using mer
- the base form (analytic comparative)

For most common, short adjectives, the -ere form is the default and most natural:

morsom → morsommere – more fun/funnier
stor → større – bigger
pen → penere – prettier

So Denne samtalen er morsommere enn møtet is completely natural.

You can say mer morsom (especially for emphasis or in some styles), and it is understood, but for everyday speech morsommere sounds smoother and more idiomatic.

In short:

morsommere = ordinary, preferred comparative
mer morsom = possible, but less common and often a bit heavier in style

What does enn mean here, and how is it different from en?

Enn is a conjunction used in comparisons. It corresponds to English than:

morsommere enn møtet – funnier than the meeting
større enn huset – bigger than the house

En, on the other hand, is the indefinite article (and also the numeral “one”):

en samtale – a conversation / one conversation
en bil – a car / one car

So:

enn → used after a comparative (morsommere enn, større enn, bedre enn)
en → “a/an” or “one”

They sound different and are used in completely different roles.

Can I say Denne samtalen er mer morsom enn møtet, and is it wrong?

It’s not wrong, and people will understand it. Grammatically it’s fine.

However, for an adjective like morsom, the -ere form (morsommere) is more natural in Standard Bokmål, especially in speech. Mer morsom may sound a bit more formal, heavier, or just less idiomatic in everyday conversation.

So:

Denne samtalen er morsommere enn møtet. – most natural
Denne samtalen er mer morsom enn møtet. – correct, but less usual in casual speech

For many longer or more complex adjectives, mer + adjective is actually the normal way:

interessant → mer interessant (not *interessantere)
komfortabel → mer komfortabel

Why is it møtet and not møten or something else?

Møte is a neuter noun in Norwegian:

Indefinite singular: et møte – a meeting
Definite singular: møtet – the meeting

Neuter nouns usually take -et in the definite singular:

et hus → huset – the house
et språk → språket – the language
et møte → møtet – the meeting

Masculine nouns typically take -en:

en samtale → samtalen – the conversation
en bil → bilen – the car

So møtet is just the normal definite form of møte.

Why is only samtalen after denne, but møtet doesn’t have any denne/dette? Could I say Denne samtalen er morsommere enn dette møtet?

In comparisons, you don’t need a demonstrative before the second noun. It’s enough to say:

Denne samtalen er morsommere enn møtet.
This conversation is funnier than the meeting.

Here møtet just means “the meeting” in general, probably “the meeting we both know about.”

You can add a demonstrative if you want to highlight a specific meeting more strongly:

Denne samtalen er morsommere enn dette møtet.
This conversation is funnier than this meeting.

Both are correct. The version without dette is more neutral and typical in a simple comparison.

Why isn’t the order Denne samtalen er enn møtet morsommere? Could the adjective go after the comparison?

In Norwegian, as in English, the comparative adjective normally comes before enn:

X er morsommere enn Y – X is funnier than Y
X er større enn Y – X is bigger than Y

You don’t move the adjective to the end:

✗ Denne samtalen er enn møtet morsommere. – incorrect word order

The basic pattern is:

Subject + verb + comparative adjective + enn + comparison phrase

So:

Denne samtalen er morsommere enn møtet.
Filmen var bedre enn boken. – The movie was better than the book.

How would I say “This conversation is as funny as the meeting” in Norwegian?

To express “as … as” in Norwegian, you use like … som or sometimes så … som:

Denne samtalen er like morsom som møtet.
This conversation is as funny as the meeting.

Structure:

like
- adjective in base form + som
  - comparison
like morsom som – as funny as
like stor som – as big as
like interessant som – as interesting as

Compare with your original sentence:

morsommere enn – funnier than
like morsom som – as funny as

How do you pronounce samtalen, morsommere, and møtet?

Approximate IPA and English-like hints (Standard Eastern Norwegian):

samtalen
- IPA: [ˈsɑmˌtɑːlən] (often with stress on first syllable: SAM-ta-len)
- Roughly: SAHM-tah-len
  - sam like “sum” but with a more open a
  - ta like “tah” (open a)
  - len like “len” in “Lenny”
morsommere
- IPA: [ˈmuʂɔmːərə] (again, main stress on first syllable: MOR-som-me-re)
- Roughly: MOOR-som-mer-eh
  - mor like “moor” but shorter
  - som like English “some” but with o closer to “aw”
  - me-re is reduced and quick: “muh-reh”
møtet
- IPA: [ˈmøːtə]
- Roughly: MEU-teh
  - mø is a sound between English “e” and “u”; like the French deux
  - te like “teh” with a short schwa at the end

You don’t need perfect IPA; just try to keep the stress on the first syllable of each word and reduce the ending vowels slightly.

Is samtale always masculine? Could it be ei samtale?

In Bokmål, samtale is normally treated as masculine:

en samtale – a conversation
samtalen – the conversation
denne samtalen – this conversation

Bokmål does allow some nouns to be either masculine or feminine, and in some dialects and in Nynorsk you might see or hear:

ei samtale – a conversation (feminine)
samtala – the conversation (feminine definite)

But in standard, learner-oriented Bokmål, you will almost always learn and use en samtale / samtalen / denne samtalen, as in your sentence.