"Kvinnen drikker."

Translation: The woman is drinking.

[Kokerey4]

Why this sentence is "The woman is drinking" and is not "The woman drinks"?
I don't understand it

[deactivated user]

"The woman is drinking" and "The woman drinks" are equally correct.

There is only one present tense in Norwegian which can be translated, depending on the context, as Present Continuous or Present Simple.

[tfajfar]

I answered "the woman drinks" at it was correct

[Bura589506]

Me too :/

[Katy538204]

Is this really correct?

[Luke_5.1991]

Yup!

[Kay292074]

So when is it kvinne and when kvinnen?

[.b.e.e.]

I'm pretty sure kvinne is 'woman' and kvinnen is 'the woman'

[Pakislav]

Why is "the girl" jenta and "the woman" kvinnen rather than kvinna?

[deactivated user]

Both jente and kvinne are nouns of feminine gender which means they can take the masculine indefinite article en as well. Thus, the different endings. In Bokmål, some "strong" nouns retain the feminine form in definite singular.

Indefinite singular forms

• en kvinne - a woman (indefinite masculine singular)
• ei kvinne - a woman (indefinite feminine singular)
• en jente - a girl (indefinite masculine singular)
• ei jente - a girl (indefinite feminine singular)

Definite singular forms

• kvinnen - the woman (definite masculine singular)
• kvinna - the woman (definite feminine singular)
• jenten - the girl (definite masculine singular)
• jenta - the girl (definite feminine singular)

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Refer back to tips (indefinite articles and definite forms) for more information.

On the Norwegian Dictionary page, click the "m1" and "f1" links to view the table where different forms of that particular noun are presented. Below are translations of terms located in the table header.

• entall - singular
• flertall - plural
• ubestemt form - indefinite form
• bestemt form - definite form

[TheNewRecipe]

"The woman" can be either 'kvinnen' or 'kvinna', but it just depends on geography and dialect I believe.

[Ethan__Cox]

Im finding "Kvinnen" kinda hard to say. The audio makes it sound like the "K" and "V" are said simultaneously and I cant do it. In reality is their a slight gap between the "K" and "V" or is it said super fast as if one sound?

[esther978756]

its said super fast as in one sound

[deactivated user]

Correct IPA pronunciation is /kʋɪnən/.

Hover over each individual word to hear it more clearly and use the turtle button in listening exercises. On the discussion page, you can also click the word itself to isolate it from the rest of the sentence (Duolingo will take you to the dictionary page).

"-en" in kvinnen is unstressed and, therefore, less prominent when speaking.

When the ə (Wikipedia article) sound isn't enunciated clearly, two n sounds sort of merge and are prolonged.

While practising at home, replace it with a more defined e sound and give yourself time so your ears can get accustomed to the almost unnoticeable ə between the n sounds.

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Click here to view more information about IPA symbols and sounds. Follow this link to listen how a native speaker pronounces this word.

[tfajfar]

Why drikker and not drikke?

[deactivated user]

In Norwegian, there is only one present tense which you form by adding -r to the infinitive form of a verb (there are exceptions!). Å drikke (to drink) becomes drikker, å spise (to eat) becomes spiser and å skrive (to write) becomes skriver.

• å drikke - to drink (infinitive)
• drikker - drink/drinks[PS] || am/are/is drinking[PC] (present tense)

Remember, Norwegian doesn't have Present Simple and Present Continuous nor does it use auxiliary verbs when forming questions and negative statements.