Årsaken er klar.

The cause is clear.

Breakdown of Årsaken er klar.

• være: to be
• klar: clear
• årsaken: the cause

Questions & Answers about Årsaken er klar.

Why does årsaken end in -en?

Because årsaken is the definite singular form of årsak.

• årsak = cause / reason
• årsaken = the cause / the reason

In Norwegian, definiteness is often added as a suffix to the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

Does the Å at the beginning mean the infinitive marker to?

No. Here, Å is just the first letter of the noun Årsaken.

A learner may know å as the word placed before an infinitive, like:

• å være = to be
• å spise = to eat

But in Årsaken er klar, Årsaken is a noun, not a verb. The capital Å is simply because it is the first word in the sentence.

Why isn’t it den årsaken?