Søknaden min er godkjent nå.

to be

Breakdown of Søknaden min er godkjent nå.

• nå: now
• min: my
• søknaden: the application
• godkjent: approved

Questions & Answers about Søknaden min er godkjent nå.

Why is it søknaden min and not min søknad?

Norwegian usually prefers the possessive pronoun after the noun when the noun is definite:

• søknaden min = my application (literally: the application my)

This is the most neutral and common way to say my X in everyday Norwegian.

You can also say min søknad, but:

• min søknad is more marked/emphatic, often used to contrast with someone else’s application, or to sound a bit more formal/literary.
• søknaden min is what you will hear most in normal speech.

So in this sentence, søknaden min is the natural, default choice.

What does the ending -en in søknaden mean?

The -en ending is the definite singular article for most masculine nouns in Bokmål.

• en søknad = an application (indefinite singular)
• søknaden = the application (definite singular)

Norwegian typically attaches the definite article to the end of the noun, instead of using a separate word like English the.

What gender is søknad, and how do its forms look?

Søknad is a masculine noun in Bokmål.

Typical forms:

• Indefinite singular: en søknad – an application
• Definite singular: søknaden – the application
• Indefinite plural: søknader – applications
• Definite plural: søknadene – the applications

How does min work, and when do I use min / mi / mitt / mine?

Min is a possessive pronoun meaning my.

It changes according to the gender and number of the noun:

• min – with masculine nouns: søknaden min (my application)
• mi – with feminine nouns: boka mi (my book)
• mitt – with neuter nouns: huset mitt (my house)
• mine – with plurals (any gender): søknadene mine (my applications)

In standard Bokmål, many speakers treat most feminine nouns as masculine, so you will often hear min instead of mi in everyday speech, but here søknad is masculine anyway, so min is the correct form.

What exactly is er godkjent grammatically?

Er is the present tense of å være (to be).
Godkjent is the past participle of å godkjenne (to approve).

Together, er godkjent forms a stative passive:

• søknaden min er godkjent = my application is approved
  (focus on the current state/result: it is now in an approved state)

So the structure is: subject + være (er) + past participle.

What is the difference between er godkjent, ble godkjent, and har blitt godkjent?

They all involve being approved, but the focus is a bit different:

1. er godkjent

   • Focus: state/result now.
   • My application is (now) approved.
   • Used when you care about the current situation.

2. ble godkjent (past simple passive)

   • Focus: event in the past.
   • Søknaden min ble godkjent i går.
     – My application was approved yesterday.
   • Often used with a time expression.

3. har blitt godkjent (present perfect passive)

   • Focus: completed event with relevance now.
   • Søknaden min har blitt godkjent.
     – My application has been approved.
   • Very similar to English present perfect passive.

In isolation (without a time adverb), er godkjent and har blitt godkjent will often both sound natural, but er godkjent emphasizes the current status slightly more.

Is godkjent an adjective or a verb form here?

Formally, godkjent is the past participle of the verb å godkjenne.
In a sentence like søknaden min er godkjent, that participle functions adjectivally, describing the state of the noun:

• søknaden – the noun
• er – the linking verb (to be)
• godkjent – participle functioning like an adjective (approved)

So you can think of it as a verb form being used as an adjective.

Can I leave out nå, and where can it go in the sentence?

Yes, you can leave it out:

• Søknaden min er godkjent. – My application is approved.

Nå means now and adds a sense of “this has just happened / this is now the situation.”

Common placements:

• Søknaden min er godkjent nå. (very natural, most common)
• Nå er søknaden min godkjent. (slightly more emphatic on now)

You usually don’t put nå in the middle of er and godkjent; er nå godkjent is possible but less common and a bit more marked.

Is it always necessary to say min, or can I just say søknaden er godkjent nå?

You can absolutely say:

• Søknaden er godkjent nå. – The application is approved now.

Whether you include min depends on context:

• If everyone knows you’re talking about your application, you can drop min.
• If it might be confused with someone else’s application, you keep min.

So søknaden min er godkjent nå is just making it explicit that it’s your application.

Is this sentence formal or informal?

The sentence Søknaden min er godkjent nå. is neutral in style. It can be used in:

• Everyday speech: telling a friend your application was approved.
• Semi-formal writing: an email to someone you know fairly well.

More formal bureaucratic language might say something like:

• Søknaden din er nå blitt godkjent.
• Vi kan informere om at søknaden din er godkjent.

But your sentence is fine and natural in most contexts.

How do you pronounce søknaden and godkjent?

Approximate pronunciation (Bokmål, standard Eastern):

• søknaden → [ˈsøːk.nɑ.dən]

  • sø like sir but with rounded lips.
  • Stress on the first syllable: SØK-naden.

• godkjent → [ˈɡuːd.çent] or [ˈɡʊd.çent], depending on accent.

  • god often sounds like gud or good (with Norwegian vowels).
  • kj is a soft sound [ç], somewhat like the h in German ich.
  • Stress on the first syllable: GOD-kjent.

So the whole sentence has main stress on SØK-naden and GOD-kjent.

Would this sentence look different in Nynorsk or in some dialects?

Yes, in written Nynorsk you would typically see:

• Søknaden min er godkjend no.

Differences:

• godkjent (Bokmål) → godkjend (Nynorsk)
• nå (Bokmål) → no (Nynorsk)

Spoken dialects may also pronounce the words differently (for example, some would say søknadn min or similar), but Søknaden min er godkjent nå is standard Bokmål.