Sangen er kort.

to be

Breakdown of Sangen er kort.

• kort: short
• sangen: the song

Questions & Answers about Sangen er kort.

Why is sangen one word, instead of two words for the song?

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

• en sang = a song
• sangen = the song

So -en is the definite ending here. That is why Norwegian does not need a separate word like English the in this sentence.

What is the dictionary form of sangen?

The dictionary form is sang.

You would normally learn it as:

• en sang = a song

Then the definite singular form is:

• sangen = the song

So sangen is just the noun sang with the definite ending -en added.

What gender is sang, and why does that matter?

Sang is a common gender noun in Bokmål, so it takes en in the indefinite singular:

• en sang

Because of that, the definite singular form becomes:

• sangen

Gender matters because it affects articles and sometimes adjective forms.