Noen grammatikkregler er enkle, men uregelmessige verb i fortid er vanskeligere.

Some grammar rules are simple, but irregular verbs in the past tense are more difficult.

Breakdown of Noen grammatikkregler er enkle, men uregelmessige verb i fortid er vanskeligere.

• være: to be
• i: in
• men: but
• enkel: simple
• noen: some
• fortiden: the past
• vanskeligere: more difficult
• grammatikkregelen: the grammar rule
• uregelmessig: irregular
• verbet: the verb

Questions & Answers about Noen grammatikkregler er enkle, men uregelmessige verb i fortid er vanskeligere.

What does noen mean here, and how is it different from noe?

Noen means some when it refers to countable, plural things, like regler (rules).

• noen regler = some rules
• noen bøker = some books

Noe is used with uncountable or singular mass nouns, or as a general something:

• noe vann = some water
• noe rart = something strange

Why is grammatikkregler written as one long word instead of two separate words?

Norwegian very often combines nouns into one compound word.
grammatikkregler = grammatikk (grammar) + regler (rules) → grammar rules.

Writing it as two separate words (grammatikk regler) would look wrong to a native speaker. The general rule is: when a noun modifies another noun, it is normally written as one compound word.

Could you also say Noen grammatiske regler instead of Noen grammatikkregler? Is there a difference?

Yes, Noen grammatiske regler is also correct and means some grammatical rules.

• grammatikkregler focuses on rules that belong to the grammar system.
• grammatiske regler focuses more on rules that are grammatical in nature.

In practice, both are very close in meaning here, and both sound natural.

Why is it enkle and not enkel after er?

Regler is plural, so the adjective in the basic (positive) form must take the plural ending -e in predicative position:

• Regelen er enkel. = The rule is simple. (singular)
• Reglene er enkle. = The rules are simple. (plural, definite)
• Noen regler er enkle. = Some rules are simple. (plural, indefinite)

So enkle agrees with the plural noun regler.

Why does vanskeligere not get an -e ending like enkle?

Vanskeligere is the comparative form of vanskelig (difficult → more difficult).

Comparative adjectives in Norwegian are invariable; they do not change for gender or number:

• en regel er vanskeligere
• to regler er vanskeligere
• oppgaven er vanskeligere

So you always use vanskeligere, never vanskeligere + -e.

What exactly does uregelmessige verb mean, and why does uregelmessige end in -e?

uregelmessige verb means irregular verbs.

Verb is here plural (more than one verb), so the adjective takes the plural attributive ending -e:

• et uregelmessig verb = an irregular verb
• uregelmessige verb = irregular verbs (indefinite plural)

So uregelmessige is the normal plural form of the adjective when it comes before a plural noun.

How do we know verb is plural here if the word doesn’t change form?

Verb is a neuter noun where the singular and plural indefinite forms look the same:

• singular: et verb = a verb
• plural: (flere) verb = (several) verbs

In this sentence, uregelmessige (plural adjective) tells us that verb is plural:
uregelmessige verb = irregular verbs. Context and the adjective show the number.

Why is the verb er (present tense) used when we are talking about the past (fortid) and about difficulty?

Er is present tense and is used here for a general statement:
Noen grammatikkregler er enkle, men … er vanskeligere.

This is like English:
Some grammar rules are easy, but irregular verbs in the past are harder.

You are not talking about a specific time in the past; you are stating a general truth about how difficult these things are for learners.

What does i fortid mean here, and is it the same as “in the past tense”?

In this context, i fortid means in the past (tense), i.e., in the past form of the verb.

More explicitly grammatical wording would be:

• uregelmessige verb i preteritum
• uregelmessige verb i fortidsform

But i fortid is understandable to learners and can be used more loosely as in the past form.

Could you also say i fortiden instead of i fortid?

I fortiden usually means in the past in a historical or general-time sense:

• Folk levde annerledes i fortiden. = People lived differently in the past.

In a grammar-learning context, i fortid (or better i preteritum / i fortidsform) points more directly to the past tense form of verbs, not to past historical time in general. So i fortiden would not be the best choice here.

Why is men used here, and does it work exactly like but in English?

Yes, men corresponds directly to but.

The sentence contrasts two ideas:

• Noen grammatikkregler er enkle (some are easy),
• men uregelmessige verb i fortid er vanskeligere (but these other things are harder).

So men works just like English but to join two contrasting clauses.

Why is it uregelmessige verb i fortid er vanskeligere and not something like de uregelmessige verbene i fortid er vanskeligere?

Using the indefinite form (uregelmessige verb) makes a general statement about irregular verbs as a type, not about a specific set of verbs:

• Uregelmessige verb i fortid er vanskeligere.
  = Irregular verbs in the past tense are (generally) harder.

If you said de uregelmessige verbene i fortid, you would sound like you are talking about a specific, known group of verbs (for example, a list you just mentioned). For a general truth, the indefinite form is more natural.

Is the word order Noen grammatikkregler er enkle the normal order, and could it be changed?

Yes, Subject – Verb – Predicate is the normal word order:

• Noen grammatikkregler (subject)
• er (verb)
• enkle (predicative adjective)

You cannot freely move er or enkle to other positions without making the sentence wrong or very marked. For a simple statement like this, this is basically the only natural order.

Is there any difference between vanskeligere and mer vanskelig?

Both vanskeligere and mer vanskelig can mean more difficult.

However, with vanskelig, the built-in comparative vanskeligere is much more common and natural in everyday Norwegian:

• uregelmessige verb i fortid er vanskeligere (preferred)
• uregelmessige verb i fortid er mer vanskelige (grammatical but less natural here)

So in this sentence, vanskeligere is the best choice.