Karakterens

Karakterens is a grammatical form used in several Scandinavian languages to mark possession for the definite singular noun karakt er/karakter, which means character in the sense of a person in a story or a symbol/quality, as well as in contexts where grade or rating is meant. In English, the form corresponds to “the character’s” or “the grade’s” by context.

In Danish and Norwegian Bokmål, the basic indefinite noun is karakter; the definite form is karakteren. Possession is expressed by attaching the suffix -s to the definite form, yielding karakterens. For example, karakterens betydning means “the character’s meaning” (or “the meaning of the character”) depending on context. The same mechanism is widely used for other nouns in these languages, making karakt er/karakteren followed by -s a common way to form possessives.

In Swedish, the equivalent is karaktärens, where the base noun karaktär takes the definite form karaktären, and -ens marks the possessive. An example is karaktärens betydelse, meaning “the character’s meaning” in context.

Usage and notes: The possessive form is typically used when the possessor is definite or known, and it often appears in written prose, academic writing, or descriptive text about people, objects, or concepts associated with a particular character or grade. In Norwegian Nynorsk and some dialects, possessive constructions may differ and sometimes rely on possessive pronouns or alternative patterns.

Etymology: The form derives from the noun karakt er/karakter (from Latin character) with an inflectional -en for the definite form and -s for genitive/possessive marking, a pattern shared across Scandinavian languages.