Questions & Answers about Barna sitter på jorden og leker.
Why is it barna and not just barn?
Because barna means “the children” (definite plural), while barn on its own means simply “children / a child” depending on context.
- barn = child / children (indefinite)
- barna = the children (definite plural)
Norwegian usually marks “the” at the end of the noun, not as a separate word in front, so barna already includes “the” inside it.
So what is the full pattern for the noun barn?
barn is a neuter noun with an irregular plural:
- Singular indefinite: et barn – a child
- Singular definite: barnet – the child
- Plural indefinite: barn – children
- Plural definite: barna – the children
So here, Barna = The children.
Why isn’t it barnene for “the children”? I see a lot of plurals with -ene.