Bilens

Bilens is a possessive determiner used in several Scandinavian languages, meaning “the car’s.” It is placed before a following noun to indicate possession or association with the car. The form is common in Danish, Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk), and Swedish, and it functions as part of the noun phrase rather than as a standalone noun.

Grammar and usage

In these languages, bilens acts as a definite, possessive determiner. It precedes the possessed noun and signals ownership by the car. The complement noun appears in its ordinary form, while the overall phrase expresses possession. For example, bilens motor means “the car’s engine,” and bilens dører means “the car’s doors.” The construction is used with singular nouns and reflects the definite form of the possessor inside the determiner.

Examples

Norwegian Bokmål: bilens motor (the car’s engine)

Swedish: bilens motor (the car’s engine)

Danish: bilens motor (the car’s engine)

Origin and relation to other forms

Bilens derives from the base noun bil (car) and reflects the typical Scandinavian pattern of inflecting or combining nouns to form possessive definite phrases. It is related to other possessive forms in the languages and is contrasted with the indefinite or non-possessive forms used in simple noun phrases.

See also

Possessive determiner, car, Scandinavian languages, grammar.