"Han leser brev."

Translation: He's reading letters.

[andyzbenoit]

Is brev another word like barn that can be used as singular or plural depending on the context?

[Luke_5.1991]

Yes.

[tomhet93]

But, in this case, couldn't it mean "He is reading letter"?

[JusteParei]

In that case there would be an article before the word

[tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN]

Not any more than "He sees deer." would mean "He sees a deer." You would have to put the article for the singular. "et brev" indefinite singular or "brevet" definite singular, but "brev" by itself is indefinite plural.

[LeoKittelsen]

That would be:
He's reading a letter = Han leser et brev

[Luke_5.1991]

That doesn't make sense.

[holstzsche]

what if in a negative sentence : han leser ikke et brev ( what a laaazy guy cruel truth like me : < )

[ThaliNilsen]

No, it means "He is reading letters".

[Tomislav881687]

I tried 10 times each time my answer wasn't accepted. Something is wrong with this..

[Cr8face]

Same here. Not sure what's wrong

[caromom97]

could you also say "han leser brever" ?

[ThaliNilsen]

No, the plural of "brev" is "brev".

[Aeltestenrat]

so ein Blödsinn hier. Ich schreibe Er ließt einen Brief. Also in Englisch "he reads a letter" oder "he is reading a letter" Die App sagt aber es heißt " he is reading letters" Also mit Mehrzahl und Einzahl hat die App ein Problem. Mal wollen die auch "reads" und dann wieder "is reading"

[Unni-Kristin]

If he reads only one letter it would have been "Han leser et brev".
"Han leser brev" means "He is reading letters/ Er liest Briefe"
because the plural inflection of "Et brev" is "brev"/die Pluralflexion von „Et brev“ ist „brev“.
(Norwegian is my native tounge)

[MarcelloS10]

Why is "he reads a letter" considered wrong?

[Max59328]

because there is no use of "a" in the sentence

[Unni-Kristin]

Because he reads several letters, not just one.

[DeFacto13]

How am I supposed to know that it's more then one letter? It's out of the context isn't it

[Max59328]

If there is only 1 letter, then you would use ett brev (one book) or a book (et brev). "He is reading book" makes no sense without multiple books.