Romfartøyets

Romfartøyets is the possessive form of the Norwegian compound noun romfartøy, meaning spacecraft. The base romfartøy combines rom (space) and fartøy (vessel). In Bokmål and Nynorsk, the definite singular form is romfartøyet, and the possessive is formed by adding -s to that form, yielding romfartøyets to indicate ownership or attribution, as in romfartøyets hull (the spacecraft’s hull) or romfartøyets kontrollsystem (the spacecraft’s control system).

Morphology and usage notes: romfartøyet is the definite form used when referring to a specific spacecraft. The corresponding possessive romfartøyets is commonly used in technical, scientific, and descriptive texts to denote what belongs to or pertains to that spacecraft. For contrast, possessive constructions can also be expressed with a demonstrative or possessive pronoun, such as romfartøyets design versus designet til romfartøyet. In plural form, the possessive would adjust accordingly, yielding forms like romfartøyenes in contexts referring to multiple spacecraft.

Context and nuance: The -s possessive in Norwegian is widely used for nouns borrowed from other languages and for lengthy compound terms, especially in formal or technical writing. While romfartøyets is standard in such contexts, writers may prefer alternative phrasings (for example, using possessive pronouns or rephrasing) in less formal prose.

See also: romfartøy, fartøy, norsk grammatikk, genitiv.