What are the differences between these Norwegian words?
det/den? Google translate(I know it's not the best) says that they both mean "it".
I thought "it" was only "det".
Since "det" is a pronoun...
My Norwegian-English dictionary also says "den" can mean "I", "they" and them? How can it mean all those things? Also, I thought "I" translated to "jeg"?

Sorry if this is rambling and confusing...I just don't understand the difference, and I don't understand how one word can mean all those different things...In English we only have one "I", one "they" and one "it". O_O

Thanks!

Question

What are the differences between these Norwegian words?
det/den? Google translate(I know it's not the best) says that they both mean "it".
I thought "it" was only "det".
Since "det" is a pronoun...
My Norwegian->English dictionary also says "den" can mean "I", "they" and them? How can it mean all those things? Also, I thought "I" translated to "jeg"?

Sorry if this is rambling and confusing...I just don't understand the difference, and I don't understand how one word can mean all those different things...In English we only have one "I", one "they" and one "it". O_O

Thanks!

Answer

I'm bad at explaining but I'll try my best. "Den/det" mean "it". In Norwegian we sort the words in different categories. "Den" uses when a word has the endings "-en" or "-a". "Det" is for words that doesn't have any ending.

Example:  
Den genseren er min, jeg så den først. (This sweater is mine, I saw it first.) 
Det røde huset er der jeg bor. (I live in the red house.)

Answer

Hi Cyrus!

"DEN" is used if the noun is either masculine (hankjønn) or feminine (hunkjønn).
"DET" is used if the noun is neutral (intetkjønn)

Den gale hunden (en hund = hankjønn)
Det store treet ( ett tre = intetkjønn)

Answers · 4

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