Årsaken

Årsaken is a Norwegian noun meaning the cause or reason for something. It is used to identify the proximate explanation for an event, action, or condition, and is common in journalism, science, and everyday speech. When explaining why something happened, årsaken is typically introduced with prepositions such as til (to) or som (that).

Inflection and forms: Årsak is a common-gender noun. Indefinite singular is en årsak; definite singular is årsaken. Indefinite plural is årsaker; definite plural is årsakene. In usage, you can form phrases like “denne årsaken” or “den årsaken” depending on the surrounding grammar, and you commonly see “årsaken til” followed by the event or condition being explained.

Usage and phrases: Årsaken is frequently paired with til to express the reason behind something, for example: “Årsaken til ulykken var glatte veier.” “Dette er årsaken til problemet,” and “Årsaken til at prosjektet mislyktes var manglende finansiering.” The concept is closely related to terms such as årsak og virkning (cause and effect) and can appear in formal reports, media, and academic writing.

Etymology and cognates: Årsaken derives from the Old Norse and Proto-Germanic family of words for cause or reason. It has cognates in other Scandinavian languages, such as Danish årsag and Swedish orsak, which reflect the shared Germanic roots of the term.