Semesteravgiften er høy, men jeg får litt stipend fra staten.

The semester fee is high, but I get a little grant from the state.

Breakdown of Semesteravgiften er høy, men jeg får litt stipend fra staten.

• jeg: I
• være: to be
• fra: from
• men: but
• få: to get
• høy: high
• litt: a little
• semesteravgiften: the semester fee
• stipendet: the grant
• staten: the state

Questions & Answers about Semesteravgiften er høy, men jeg får litt stipend fra staten.

What does the -en at the end of semesteravgiften and staten mean?

The -en ending is the definite singular article for masculine and many feminine nouns in Norwegian.

• semesteravgift = a semester fee

• semesteravgiften = the semester fee

• stat = (a) state
• staten = the state / the government

So semesteravgiften means “the semester fee”, and staten means “the state / the government”.

Why is it semesteravgiften and not semesteren avgiften or something like that?

Norwegian often uses compound nouns, where two (or more) nouns are joined into a single word.

• semester = semester
• avgift = fee
• semesteravgift = semester fee (literally semester-fee)

Then you add the definite ending to the whole compound, not to each part:

• semesteravgiften = the semester fee

Semesteren avgiften would be wrong, because you’re trying to make both parts definite separately, which isn’t how Norwegian does it.

Why do we say er høy (“is high”) about a fee instead of er dyr (“is expensive”)?

Both can be correct, but they have slightly different nuances:

• er høy (is high) is used for numbers, levels, amounts:

  • Prisen er høy. – The price is high.
  • Lønna er høy. – The salary is high.
  • Semesteravgiften er høy. – The semester fee is high.

• er dyr (is expensive) is more about how it feels to pay that amount:

  • Semesteravgiften er dyr. – The semester fee is expensive.

In this sentence, er høy sounds a bit more neutral or objective (talking about the fee level), while er dyr would sound slightly more subjective.

Why is it jeg får and not something like jeg får fra staten litt stipend?

Norwegian word order is fairly strict. The neutral word order in a main clause is:

Subject – Verb – (Object) – (Adverbials)

In the second part of the sentence:

• jeg = subject
• får = verb
• litt stipend = object (what you receive)
• fra staten = adverbial (from whom)

So the natural order is:

jeg får litt stipend fra staten
I get a little scholarship/grant from the state.

Reordering it to jeg får fra staten litt stipend is technically possible in some contexts, but it is marked and sounds unnatural here. The given order is what you should use.

Why is there a comma before men?

Men means “but” and connects two main clauses:

1. Semesteravgiften er høy – The semester fee is high.
2. Jeg får litt stipend fra staten – I get a little scholarship from the state.

In Norwegian, when you connect two independent main clauses with men, you normally put a comma before it:

Semesteravgiften er høy, men jeg får litt stipend fra staten.

So the comma is just following the standard rule for linking two full sentences with men.

Why is it litt stipend and not noe stipend or et stipend?

Stipend in Norwegian can behave like a mass noun when you talk about an unspecified amount of support/money, not about counting individual scholarships.

• litt stipend = a bit (some) scholarship/grant money
  
  • Focus: small amount of financial support.

If you say:

• et stipend = a scholarship / one grant
  
  • Focus: one specific scholarship as a countable thing.

Noe stipend is not idiomatic here; you would usually say litt stipend to mean “a bit of scholarship/grant money”.

So jeg får litt stipend is like saying “I get some scholarship money” rather than “I get a scholarship”.

Why do we say fra staten and not av staten?

Both fra and av can sometimes translate as “from”, but they are used differently.

• fra = from (origin, sender, place, source):

  • Jeg får penger fra staten. – I get money from the state.
  • Brev fra mamma. – A letter from mom.

• av often corresponds to “by” (passive) or “out of/of”:

  • Boken er skrevet av ham. – The book is written by him.
  • laget av tre – made of wood.

When you talk about receiving money or support, you normally use fra:

Jeg får litt stipend fra staten.
I get a bit of scholarship/grant money from the state.

Av staten would sound more like a passive construction (“given by the state”) and is not the natural choice here.

What is the difference between stipend and a normal “salary” or “loan”?

In Norwegian:

• stipend = scholarship / grant

  • Money you don’t have to pay back, usually for studies, research, etc.

• lønn = salary/wages

  • Money you get as payment for work.

• lån = loan

  • Money you must repay, usually with interest.

So jeg får litt stipend fra staten means “I get some money from the state that I don’t have to pay back (a small scholarship/grant).”

Why do we say fra staten and not fra regjeringen?

Both refer to authorities, but they have different meanings:

• staten = the state / the public sector / the government apparatus as a system
• regjeringen = the (current) government, the cabinet / group of ministers

Student support and scholarships are typically described as coming from the state (the public system), not from the specific sitting government. So fra staten is the normal collocation in this context.

Is the word order “Semesteravgiften er høy, men jeg får…” affected by the “V2 rule” in Norwegian?

Yes, the V2 rule still applies, but both clauses here are simple subject–verb–complement structures.

The V2 rule says that in main clauses, the verb should be in second position:

1. Semesteravgiften (subject – 1st position)
2. er (verb – 2nd position)
3. høy (predicate/adjective – rest of the clause)

Then:

1. jeg (subject – 1st position)
2. får (verb – 2nd position)
3. litt stipend fra staten (rest of the clause)

So the sentence fully respects the V2 rule, even if you don’t notice it as something special here.