Breakdown of På fabrikken planlegger ingeniørene nye maskiner.
planlegge
to plan
ny
new
på
at
ingeniøren
the engineer
Questions & Answers about På fabrikken planlegger ingeniørene nye maskiner.
Why is it på fabrikken and not i fabrikken?
Both på and i can translate to in/at, but they’re used differently.
- på fabrikken = at the factory (as a workplace or site of activity)
- This is the normal way to talk about what happens at a factory.
- i fabrikken would sound more like inside the physical building of the factory (emphasis on being physically inside, not on it as a workplace).
In this sentence, we’re talking about what happens at the workplace, so på is the natural choice: the engineers are doing this at the factory in general, not just inside the building.
Why does it say fabrikken and not just fabrikk?
Norwegian usually adds the definite article (the) as an ending on the noun, rather than as a separate word.
- fabrikk = factory (indefinite, like a factory / factories in general)
- fabrikken = the factory (definite singular)
So på fabrikken means at the factory, referring to a specific factory that speaker and listener can identify from context. Using just på fabrikk would sound more like at (a) factory in general, not a particular one.
Why does the sentence start with På fabrikken instead of Ingeniørene?