"En jente er et barn."

Translation: A girl is a child.

[stellarweather]

Wait, whats the difference between "en" and "et" if they were both translating "A"?

[Tinitunes]

It depends on the gender of the word. Technically there are three genders: feminine, masculine, and neutral, although the feminine is rarely used in bookmål and can be replaced with the masculine form. Some places replace the "ei" with "en", but replace the "-a" ending, it just depends on the dialect.

Feminine: "ei" / "-a" Example: "Ei ku" / "kua"
Masculine: "en" / "-en" Example:"En stol" / "stolen"
Neutral: "et" / "-et" Example: "Et hus" / "huset"

[silvernightt]

Thanks

[norgejente]

I think one is the neuter, maybe?

[Sapiophia]

Yes, 'et' is neuter, 'en' is masculine and 'ei' is feminine.

[LANGUAGES-LOVER]

can I put a girl is a kid?

[Deliciae]

Yes, they are treated as synonyms.

[LANGUAGES-LOVER]

thank you

[RaaawuR]

Is this where bairn comes from in English??

[tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN]

Apparently, it is also related to Old High German which was also "barn", "bearn" was the Old English word which also gave rise to the verb "bear".
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bairn
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/bairn

[Rubab0]

where can I check if my pronunciation is correct or not?

[deactivated user]

• befriend a Norwegian
• record yourself saying the word (use www.forvo.com to find the word and then compare the two)
• pay someone to teach you Norwegian
• visit this link if you own a microphone of some kind

[judyta418127]

is "b" phonetically pronounced as a soft "v" in English?

[deactivated user]

You do need to bring your lips together in order to form the correct sound. IPA pronunciation is /bɑːɳ/. Follow this link to listen how a native speaker pronounces this word.

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Click here to find out more about these symbols.

[PilotWW1UFI]

So when gender isn't specified for a noun, the neuter is used?

[deactivated user]

Biological gender and grammatical gender aren't one and the same.

Both nouns in this sentence have grammatical genders in Norwegian. Every noun is either masculine, feminine or neuter in Norwegian.

En jente is masculine (ei jente [feminine] is rarely used) and et barn is neuter.

[DidLFC]

I'm doing a test from level 2 to level 3 and this audio isn't correct. I'm listening it many times and I clearly hear "en jenta er et barn".

[jbolliger_vafud]

When listening over and over it is really hard to hear the Er in the phrase, i miss it every time haha

[abhisheksingh.in]

It all depends on how hot or cold the weather is to pronounce... please believe me ! Lip movement are also true as said by one of you guys & gals here. 'Et' - neutral und 'En' - masculine und 'ei' - feminine.

En mit ei :)

[Baldursch]

How can "a girl is a baby" be wrong? please explain

[Sapiophia]

'Et barn' means 'a child'; 'a baby' is 'et spedbarn'.

[jay614929]

Its sounds odd. Is it also can trans to "the girl is a child"?

[deactivated user]

No, because "the girl" (definite article) is jenta, but "a girl" (indefinite article) is en jente.

[Inmaculada67233]

A girl is a child doesn't make sense... Maybe if you want to explain anything "The girl" sounds better than "A girl".

[edderkopp5]

A girl is no one

[abhisheksingh.in]

@ Inmaculade67233 : it is because of more exposure towards English in your knowledge and repetitions.

Well 'ASC**' i.e. current location and location where you invested alot does matter much including the location you were born or lived much of your life.

Danke Schön Inmaculade.

[NiklasHein9]

So i thought i got a mistake: En jenteer et barn.
Is this also right or did Duo just not recognize the mistake