Katten klør seg og biter i halsbåndet.

The cat scratches itself and bites at its collar.

Breakdown of Katten klør seg og biter i halsbåndet.

• og: and
• i: at
• katten: the cat
• seg: itself

Questions & Answers about Katten klør seg og biter i halsbåndet.

Why does katten end in -en?

In Norwegian, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun.

• katt = cat
• katten = the cat

So katten means the cat. This is very common in Norwegian:

• bok = book
• boka / boken = the book

Here, -en is the definite ending for a singular masculine/common-gender noun in Bokmål.

What form is klør?

Klør is the present tense of å klø, which means to scratch.

So:

• å klø = to scratch
• klør = scratch / is scratching

In this sentence, katten klør seg means the cat scratches itself or the cat is scratching itself.

A useful thing to remember is that many Norwegian present-tense verbs end in -r:

• å bite → biter
• å klø → klør

Why is seg used here?