Jeg synes filmen er for lang.

Å synes often means to think / to feel / to find when you are giving a personal opinion.

So Jeg synes filmen er for lang means that this is my opinion about the movie.

It is very common in sentences like:

• Jeg synes boken er god = I think the book is good
• Jeg synes dette er vanskelig = I think this is difficult

A learner may confuse synes with other verbs:

• å tenke = to think, often more like thinking in general or thinking about something
• å tro = to believe / think something is probably true
• å mene = to mean / to be of the opinion that
• å like = to like

In this sentence, synes is natural because you are expressing a personal judgment about the movie.

Yes. The word at is optional here.

Both of these are correct:

• Jeg synes filmen er for lang
• Jeg synes at filmen er for lang

In everyday Norwegian, people often leave out at when the sentence is clear and natural without it.

So:

• Jeg synes filmen er for lang sounds very normal
• Jeg synes at filmen er for lang is also correct, and may sound a little more explicit

Filmen means the movie. The ending -en is the definite article attached to the noun.

So:

• en film = a movie
• filmen = the movie

Norwegian often puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

Since the sentence is talking about a specific movie, filmen is used.

Because film is a common-gender noun, and in the singular definite form it usually takes -en.

The pattern is:

• en film = a movie
• filmen = the movie

This is one of the basic noun patterns in Norwegian:

• en bil → bilen
• en bok → boka/boken depending on style
• en film → filmen

So -en is not part of the dictionary form of the noun. It is the definite ending.

Because lang is an adjective, and here it describes the noun filmen.

• lang = long
• lenge = for a long time

In this sentence, you are describing the movie itself, so you need the adjective:

• Filmen er lang = The movie is long

But lenge is used with time duration in a different way:

• Jeg ventet lenge = I waited a long time

So:

• lang describes something
• lenge describes duration

No. In this sentence, for means too.

So:

• for lang = too long

This is a very common pattern in Norwegian:

• for dyr = too expensive
• for vanskelig = too difficult
• for sent = too late

This can be confusing for English speakers because Norwegian for sometimes looks like English for, but here it definitely means too.

The sentence starts with the subject Jeg and the verb synes, which gives the basic main-clause order:

• Jeg = subject
• synes = verb

After that comes what you think: filmen er for lang.

So the structure is roughly:

• Jeg
  • synes
    • [the movie is too long]

That second part, filmen er for lang, is like the content of your opinion.

This word order is very normal in Norwegian.

Because er is the present tense of å være = to be.

The part filmen er for lang means the movie is too long.

Just like in English, Norwegian usually needs a form of to be when linking a subject to an adjective:

• Filmen er lang = The movie is long
• Huset er stort = The house is big
• Boken er interessant = The book is interesting

So er connects filmen and for lang.

Because Norwegian verbs usually do not change according to person.

In English, you say:

• I think
• you think
• he thinks

But in Norwegian, the present tense form stays the same:

• jeg synes
• du synes
• han synes
• vi synes

That makes Norwegian verb conjugation simpler than English in this way.

Because film is a common-gender noun: en film.

When an adjective comes after er and describes a singular common-gender noun, the basic form is often used:

• Filmen er lang

You often see -t with neuter singular nouns:

• et hus → Huset er stort
• et brev → Brevet er langt

But:

• en film → Filmen er lang

So lang matches film correctly here.

Yes, but it is not exactly the same in tone.

• Jeg synes filmen er for lang sounds like a personal impression or opinion
• Jeg mener filmen er for lang can sound a bit firmer, more like I am of the opinion that the movie is too long

In many situations, both are possible, but synes is very common and natural for everyday opinions.

You would simply say:

• Filmen er for lang

That removes the opinion phrase Jeg synes and leaves only the statement.

So:

• Jeg synes filmen er for lang = I think the movie is too long
• Filmen er for lang = The movie is too long

The second version sounds more direct.

There are two common possibilities, and they mean slightly different things:

• Jeg synes ikke filmen er for lang = I don’t think the movie is too long
• Jeg synes filmen ikke er for lang = I think the movie is not too long

The first one is probably the most natural in many situations.

This is a useful point because the position of ikke can affect what exactly is being negated.