Kan jeg låne boken din?

Can I borrow your book?

Breakdown of Kan jeg låne boken din?

• jeg: I
• boken: the book
• kunne: can
• din: your

Questions & Answers about Kan jeg låne boken din?

Why is kan placed before jeg?

Because this is a yes/no question. In Norwegian, yes/no questions usually put the verb first:

• Kan jeg låne boken din?
• literally: Can I borrow your book?

In a normal statement, the order would be:

• Jeg kan låne boken din.
• I can borrow your book.

So the change from statement to question is mainly the verb-subject inversion: kan jeg instead of jeg kan.

What does kan mean here?

Kan is the present tense of kunne, and here it means can.

In this sentence, it is being used to make a polite request, similar to English:

• Can I borrow your book?

So it is not only about ability; it is also a common way to ask for permission politely.

What form is låne?