Breakdown of De pårørende venter i resepsjonen, men legen kommer snart.
komme
to come
men
but
snart
soon
vente
to wait
Questions & Answers about De pårørende venter i resepsjonen, men legen kommer snart.
Why does the sentence start with De? Is it the same as “they”?
Yes. De is the 3rd person plural pronoun they. In this sentence it refers to the group de pårørende.
Be aware that Norwegian also has De as a formal/polite you, but here it’s clearly they because it’s followed by a noun phrase (pårørende).
What exactly does pårørende mean, and why is it used without an article?
Pårørende is a common term for relatives / next of kin / family members (of a patient). It’s often used in healthcare contexts.
It’s used here without an article because it’s part of a structure like De + noun meaning “They, the …” (a definite group known from context). You could also say De pårørende = “the relatives/next of kin”.
Is pårørende singular or plural here? It looks the same either way.
Here it’s plural because it refers to a group and matches De (they).
Pårørende can function as:
- plural noun: pårørende (the relatives/next of kin)
- or as an adjective-like word in some contexts (e.g., pårørende person is less common; more typical is en pårørende / de pårørende).