Unit 1 Sentences
Intro
What?
Greetings
Actions
Animals 1
Phrases
Food 1
People 1
Definites
Plurals
Unit1 Lesson1- Intro Sentences Jeg er en gutt. Jeg er ei//en jente. Du er en mann. Du er ei/en kvinne.
I am a boy. I am a girl. You are a man. You are a woman.
Mann og kvinne. En mann, ei/en kvinne og en gutt. Han er en mann, og hun er en//ei kvinne. Han er en gutt, og hun er en//ei jente.
Man and woman. A man, a woman and a boy. He is a man, and she is a woman. He is a boy, and she is a girl.
Er jeg ei/en kvinne? Er hun ei/en kvinne? Er hun ei/en jente?
Am I a woman? Is she a woman? Is she a girl?
Jeg er ikke en mann. Han er ikke ei/en kvinne. Han er ikke ei/en jente. Han er en mann, ikk kke en gutt.
I am not a man. He is not a woman. He is not a girl. He is a man, not a boy.
Og du er?
And you are?
Jeg er glad. Hun er glad. Jeg er glad du er glad. Ei/en glad jente. Er du ikke glad?
I am happy. She is happy. I am glad you are happy. A happy girl. Are you not happy?
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Hvem er hvem?? Hvem er jeg? Hvem er du? Hvem er dere?? Hvem er hun??
Who is who? Who am I? Who are you? (sg) Who are you? (pl) Who is she?
Du og jeg En kvinne og en jente
You and me A woman and a girl
Det er en gutt. Det er en jente. Det er en mann. Det er en kvinne.
That's / It's a boy. It's a girl. It's a man. That's a woman.
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Notes
!
De Du Dere
They singular You plural You
Grammatical Gender Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
en mann
ei kvinne or en kvinne
et barn
a man
a woman
a child
All feminine gendered nouns can be classified as masculine gender as well. In theory, one could treat all feminine nouns as masculine ones, but most Norwegians still use the feminine form to some degree, especially for certain words. The choice really is up to you! Both en kvinne and ei kvinne are grammatically correct, and the tendency to use the feminine gender depends on geography and dialect. We have opted to teach it where it is most natural to use it, with words such as jente meaning girl , for example, but in the first couple of skills we'll let you focus on the masculine and neuter noun patterns.
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Pronoun Norwegian pronouns are very straightforward and correspond well to English ones: Norwegian
English
jeg
I
du
you (singular)
han
he
hun
she
det, den *
it, that
vi
we
dere
you (plural)
de
they
* When referring to a neutral subject, det is used to mean it or that. However, when referring to a masculine or feminine subject, it becomes den instead.
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Verbs Conjugation couldn't be simpler. All conjugated verbs have an -r stem in the present, and verbs don't change according to the subject! How easy is that?
Singular
Plural
jeg er
I am
vi er
we are
du er
you are
dere er
you are
han, hun, det er
he, she, it is
de er
they are
å være to be
VERB
ETYMOLOGY norrønt vera infinitiv presens preteritum presens perfektum imperativ å være
er
var
har vært
vær!
perfektum partisipp presens partisipp intetkjønn vært
værende
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ordbokene.no
Vocabulary
Tree 4 er
am, are, is
hvem
who
og
and
ik kke
not
jeg
I
du
you (singular)
han
he
hun
she
det
it, that
en
a, an
en mann
a man
en//ei kvinne
a woman
en gutt
a boy
en/ei jente
a girl
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Unit1 Lesson2 - What? Sentences Hva er et eple? Hva er vann? Hva er brød?
What is an apple? What is water? What is bread?
Hvem har en katt? Han vet ikke hvem jeg er. Hun vet ikke hvem jeg er.
Who has a cat? He doesn't know who I am. She doesn't know who I am.
En kvinne har et eple. Hvor er Norge? Hvor i Norge er dere? Hvor i Norge er hun? Vet du hvor de er? Jeg vet hvor de er. Hvor sitter hun? Hvor sitter dere?
A woman has an apple. Where is Norway? Where in Norway are you? Where in Norway is she? Do you know where they are? I know where they are. Where is she sitting? Where are you(all) sitting?
Det er vann. Det er en katt. * Det er der. Der er det. Der er hun!
It's water. That is water. It is a cat. It is there. There it is. There she is!
Han er et barn. Jeg er i Norge! Han er ikke i Norge.
He is a child. I am in Norway! He is not in Norway.
En/ei jente er et barn. Dere er en mann og en kvinne. Der er hun!
A girl is a child. You are a man and a woman. There she is!
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Har han brød? De har ikke brød. Han har brød og et eple. Har dere det?
Does he have bread? They don't have bread. He has bread and an apple. Do you have it?
Han sitter ikke.
He is not sitting.
* Det er en katt 'It is a cat' can also mean 'There is a cat'.
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Notes There is... : Det er... in Norwegian Der er... in Danish
Who? What? Where? Confused yet? We have just the word for you... Hva is the word for what , and also happens to be just the right thing to exclaim when you feel like you've been hit in the head with one Norwegian grammar rule too many. In this skill, you'll also come across another question word, but you'll have to go look for it yourself, because we're not sure exactly where it went.
Knowing The verb å vite, to know , is an irregular verb in Norwegian. Its present tense, which you will familiarize yourself with in this skill, is vet. See that vowel change from the infinitive to the present? Cheeky! There are actually several verbs for knowing, and you'll get to know them all in due time, but this particular one deals with factual knowledge. Some examples of that is knowing what or where something is, or knowing something about something or someone. Vet du hvor det er? Do you know where it is?
Vet du hvem hun er? Do you know who she is?
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Plural Pronouns You're already familiar with the singular pronouns jeg, du, han, hun and det, and now we're adding the plural pronouns into the mix. Norwegian
English
vi
we
dere
you (plural)
de
they
Notice how Norwegian has two different pronouns for "you": du is the singular and dere is the plural version. An easy way to keep them apart, is to remember that the word representing more people has more letters in it.
Question Words When you're just starting out learning a new language, few things are more useful than to be able to ask the questions that allow you to find what you need or further your learning. You've already learned one, hvem, and in this skill you'll learn two more of the most common question words. Norwegian
English
hvem
who
hva
what
hvor
where
Isn't it neat how they all resemble their English counterparts? You've probably noticed by now that English and Norwegian have many things in common, both when it comes to grammar and vocabulary. This is because they're closely related Germanic languages. However, we do need to differentiate ourselves somehow, and so we decided to add some extra letters to our alphabet - just to keep things interesting.
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Three New Vowels Norwegian has three extra vowels, Æ, Ø and Å.
Vowel Æ Ø Å
Similar To the a in add or apple no real equivalent, but not far from the vowel sounds in bird or earth the o in open or old
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IPA [æ] [ø] or [œ] [o] or [ɔ]
Vocabulary
har
has
vet
knows
sitter
sits
vi
we
dere
you (plural)
de
they
i
in
hva
what
hvor
where
her
here
der
there
Norge
Norway
et
a, an
et barn
a child
et eple
an apple
en katt
a cat
brød (n)
bread
vann (n)
water
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Unit1 Lesson3 - Greetings Sentences Hei, her er jeg! Hei og god dag! ① Det er en god dag. En god morgen. Er det morgen? God kveld! Morgen og kveld. God morgen og velkommen!
Hi, here I am! Hi and good afternoon/day. It is a good day. A good morning. Is it morning? Good evening! Morning and evening. Good morning and welcome!
Du heter Astrid. Heter du Astrid? Hva heter hun? Hva heter han? Hun heter Astrid. Du heter Marius. Heter du Marius? Han heter Marius. Jeg heter Einar. Hun heter Erna. Han heter Luke. Jeg er ikke Maria.
Your name is Astrid. (are named) Is your name Astrid? What is her name? What is his name? Her name is Astrid. Your name is Marius. Is your name Marius? His name is Marius. My name is Einar. Her name is Erna. His name is Luke. I am not Maria.
Hva snakker du? ② Du snakker engelsk. Snakker du ikke engelsk? Hei, snakker dere engelsk? Snakker du norsk? Det er norsk. Jeg er norsk. Er hun norsk?
What do you speak? You speak English. Don't you speak English? Hi, do you speak English? Do you speak Norwegian? It is Norwegian. I am Norwegian. Is she Norwegian?
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Du bor ikke i Norge.③ Bor hun i Norge? Bor dere i Norge? Du bor ikke i Norge. Bor de her? Bor de der?
You do not live in Norway. Does she live in Norway? Do you(pl) live in Norway? You don't live in Norway. Do they live here? Do they live there?
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Notes Hei vs halla 'halla' (hi) is a dialectal form, and is not listed in the dictionary. (fveldig)
① Hei
og god ettermiddag! would be accepted, it's just not as common as 'Hei og god dag!'
dag ettermiddag kveld aften , kveld middag
day afternoon evening evening means "dinner."
However, it's more common for Norwegians to say "God dag!" as a greeting even during the afternoon, and the afternoon is certainly part of the day. In many varieties of English, "Good day! " is also less of greeting and rather something you say when you part. (Deliciae ② Hva
snakker du? Is there a separate word for "say" in Norwegian? " What are you saying" could be translated to either "Hva er det du sier?", "Hva sier du?" or simply "hæ?". (fveldig) ③ bo
vs leve "å bo" specifically refers to living somewhere (e.g. jeg bor i Norge), whereas "å leve" can mean to live, to exist, to being, not being dead etc.
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Common Phrases We've compiled a list of common phrases in the Norwegian language, for your reference. Many of them are idiomatic, meaning that they don't translate word for word to English. You'll have to learn the entire phrase. One example is "Ha det bra!", which literally means "Have it good!", but idiomatically translates to "Goodbye!"
Norwegian
English
Hvordan har du det?
How are you?
Hvordan går det?
How is it going?
Bare bra, takk!
Just fine, thanks!
Jeg har det bra.
I'm doing well.
Ha det bra!
Goodbye!
Vi ses!
See you later!
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Vocabulary
(Tree 4) bor
live(s)
en dag
a day
engelsk
english
god
good, tasty
heter
is called, is named
en kveld
an evening, a night
en morgen
a morning
Norge
Norway
Norsk
Norwegian
snakker
speak(s), talk(s)
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Unit1 Lesson4 - Actions Sentences Gutten er et barn. Barnet er en gutt. Barnet er ei jente. Hvem er barnet?
The boy is a child. The child is a boy. The child is a girl. Who is the child?
Ei / En jente og en gutt.
A girl and a boy.
Barnet har en bok. Jenta ser gutten. Jeg ser jenta.
The child has a book. The girl sees the boy. I see the girl.
Gutten liker jenta. Hun liker ei jente. Barnet kjøper melk. De kjøper brød.
The boy likes the girl. She likes a girl. The child is buying milk. They are buying bread.
En katt drikker melk. Kvinnen drikker ikke melk. De drikker melk. Mannen og kvinnen drikker.
A cat is drinking milk. The woman does not drink milk. They are drinking milk. The man and the woman are drinking.
Har vi ris ? En jente spiser ris. Gutten spiser brød og drikker vann.
Do we have rice? A girl is eating rice. The boy is eating bread and drinking water.
Mannen leser en bok, ikke et brev.
The man reads a book, not a letter.
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Notes
①
Gutten spiser brød og drikker vann. The boy is eating bread and drinking water.
"Lad " is a regional variant of "boy ". Our default translation uses "boy ", but "lad " is also accepted. (Deliciae) ② Jenta
is pronounced /jɛntɑ/, while jente is pronounced /jɛntə/.
Barn is pronounced /bɑːɳ/ , while barnet is pronounced /bɑːɳə/. [deactivated user]
③
There are three genders in the Norwegian language, neuter , feminine , and masculine . et brev - neuter ei bok - feminine en gutt - masculine
Feminine words can use either feminine or masculine articles: ei bok / boka en bok / boken (Regney)
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④ Gutten
liker jenta.
Q: So if I didn't get it wrong, you add "en" in the end as an article instead of using "en gutt"? Can you do this only when you use "gutt" at the beginning of a sentence or also in other cases? (mysmallworld) A: Masculine words get "-en" for the definite singular, feminie words "-a", neuter words "-et". Examples: Gutten = The boy Jenta = The girl Eplet = The apple In bokmål , every feminine word can be used as a masculine word, but not the other way round. So "Jenten (The girl)" is correct, however "Gutta " is just wrong. "En gutt" is indefinite singular and just means "a boy". Feminie words would use "ei", neuter words "et". Again, you can use the masculine "en" for feminine words, but not the other way round. "En jente" and "ei jente" are interchangeable, but you can never say "ei gutt". How does this work in a sentence? "En gutt og ei jente spiser et eple" means "A boy and a girl eat an apple". You are just speaking generally, not about anything specific. "Gutten og jenta spiser eplet" means "The boy and the girl eat the apple". You are speaking about specific people (the boy and the girl) eating a specific apple (which in this case means they both share the same apple;)). (Jan_D_13)
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⑤
Q:. Does the verbal form of spiser / drikker / etc (radical +er) correspond only to is eating , is drinking , etc or can it also meaneats , drinks , etc? (Hecatea) A: Strictly speaking, Norwegian doesn't have a continuous form so, yes, that form applies to both simple present and present continuous. (Regney)
Present The present tense is used to describe things that are happening or are true now: Jeg leser nå. I am reading now. The present tense is also in general statements that are independent of time: Jorda er rund. The earth is round. For things that repeat and that are still recurring: Jeg sover hver natt. I sleep every night. The present tense can be used to talk about the future as well, especially when it is certain: Jeg reiser i morgen. I leave tomorrow.
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As a rule of thumb, you can use the present tense where you would use either the present (I leave tomorrow. ) or present progressive (I am leaving tomorrow. ) tenses in English. You do not have to worry about person or number when dealing with verbs in Norwegian, the verb stays the same. This is even simpler than English where you have to remember to add the -s in the third person singular in the present tense. Forming the present is extremely easy, just add the suffix -r to the infinitive (the form you'll find in the dictionary). The table below shows you how to do it:
Infinitive
Present
English Translation
å spise
spiser
eat(s), am/are/is eating
å drikke
drikker
drink(s), am/are/is drinking
å se
ser
see(s), am/are/is seeing
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Definite Forms The definite form ("the man", "the woman", et cetera) is formed by placing the indefinite article, "a/an", or in Norwegian, "en/et", at the end of the word instead of at the beginning. This is called a postfix or a suffix. Indefinite
Definite
en mann
a man
mannen
the man
et barn
a child
barnet
the child
For feminine-classified nouns, there is one irregularity: Indefinite
Definite
ei kvinne OR en kvinne
a woman
kvinna OR kvinnen
the woman
ei jente OR en jente
a girl
jenta OR jenten
the girl
Both jenta and jenten are appropriate translations for the girl . These same endings apply to all feminine nouns. It is also normal to use the masculine article "en" for indefinite forms, even when preferring a feminine suffix in definite. This is not considered an error! Indefinite
Definite
en jente
a girl
jenta
the girl
en øy
an island
øya
the island
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Vocabulary
(Tree 4) spiser
eats
drikker
drinks
leser
reads
liker
likes
ser
sees
kjøper
buys
noe
something
den
it
ei
a, an
en/ei bok
a book
et brev
a letter
ris (m)
rice
melk (m/f)
milk
gutten
the boy
jenta
the girl
mannen
the man
kvinnen
the woman
barnet
the child
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Unit1 Lesson5 - Animals1 Sentences Er det et dyr? ① Et eple er ikke et dyr. Dyret liker ris. En and spiser brød. Har de en and? Vi har en and. Mannen har anden. Anden spiser brød. En and er en fugl.
Is it an animal? An apple is not an animal. The animal likes rice.
②
A duck is eating bread. Do they have a duck? We have a duck. The man has the duck. The duck is eating bread. A duck is a bird.
Hvem har fuglen? Katten ser fuglen. En fugl spiser ris.
Who has the bird? The cat sees the bird. A bird is eating rice.
En bjørn drikker. En bjørn drikker melk/mjølk. De kjøper en bjørn.
A bear is drinking. A bear is drinking milk. They are buying a bear.
Er det en elg? Hva drikker elgen? Hva spiser elgen? Dyret spiser en elg.
Is it a moose? What is the moose drinking? What is the moose eating? The animal is eating a moose.
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Har de en hest? Vi har en hest og en fugl. Hvem har hesten? Det er en norsk hest.
Do they have a horse? We have a horse and a bird. Who has the horse? It is a Norwegian horse.
En edderkopp drikker vann. Barnet har en edderkopp. Jenta ser edderkoppen. Edderkoppen spider.
A spider is drinking water. The child has a spider. The girl sees the spider. The spider is eating.
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Notes ① Er
det et dyr?
'det' is used for neuter nouns ordummy subjects , 'den' for masculine/feminine nouns. This one falls into the category of a dummy subject . Here are some examples, 'den' refers to the cat, 'det' is just a dummy to make the sentence grammatically correct: Er det en katt? Ja, det er det. Det er en katt, den er svart. Den er stor, den katten der.
Is that a cat? Yes, it is. That is a cat, it is black. That one is big, that cat over there.
Hvor er den ? Det er mange katter i verden.
Where is it ? There are many cats in the world.
② 'And ' (duck)
is feminine, thus 'en/ei and' See grammatical gender.
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② Hva
spiser elgen?
Can both mean: What is the moose eating? What is eating the moose? ④ spiser
vs eter
Q: Can I say "eter"? A: Yes, 'eter' and 'spiser' are always interchangeable. 'spiser' is a lot more common, however, so I'd advise you to use it instead. (fveldig)
Grammatical and Biological Gender After being introduced to nouns such as ei jente, en gutt, and et barn, you'd be forgiven for thinking that there was a correlation between a word's grammatical gender and its biological gender, or sex. However, this is not the case. Grammatical gender is a completely independent concept. While en hund is a masculine noun, that does not imply that the dog we're referring to is male, that's just the grammatical gender of the word itself.
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Animals Many animal names in Norwegian share etymological ties with English ones, but the meaning has drifted over time in one direction or another. Below are some examples. Beware these false friends! Norwegian
Translation
Related Word
hund
dog
hound
fugl
bird
fowl
elg
moose
elk*
dyr
animal
deer
*In British English, "elg" and "elk" are actual cognates. In American English, "elk" refers to a different animal. The following words are true friends, meaning that the words are similar in both spelling and meaning. Norwegian
English
katt
cat
bjørn
bear
krabbe
crab
elefant
elephant
ulv
wolf
mus
mouse
You know more Norwegian than you thought you did!
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Vocabulary
(Tree 4) et dyr
an animal
dyret
the animal
en elg
a moose
elgen
the moose
en/ei and
a duck
anden
the duck
en hest
a horse
hesten
the horse
en hund
a dog
hunden
the dog
en katt
a cat
katten
the cat
en fugl
a bird
fuglen
the bird
en bjørn
a bear
bjørnen
the bear
en ulv
a wolf
ulven
the wolf
en edderkopp
a spider
edderkoppen
the spider
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Unit1 Lesson6 Phrases Sentences En helg. God helg! ① Ja, god helg! Ha en god helg, Liv! God helg og god tur! ② God tur, Jens! Ha en god tur!
A weekend. Have a nice weekend! Yes, have a nice weekend! Have a good weekend, Liv! Have a nice weekend and a nice trip! Have a nice trip, Jens! Have a nice trip!
Vær så snill, Erik! ③
Please, Eric! (be so kind)
Ja, de er der. Ja, det er en god dag. Ja, jeg er glad. Ha det bra!
Yes, they're there. Yes, it is a good day. Yes, I'm happy. Good bye! (litt. Have it good)
Heter hun Marie eller Maria? Er han en mann eller en gutt? Er det morgen eller kveld?
Is her name Marie or Maria? Is he a man or a boy? Is it morning or evening?
Unnskyld, Kari! Unnskyld, hva heter du? Unnskyld, heter du Marie?
Sorry, Kari! Excuse me, what is your name? Excuse me, is your name Marie?
Bare hyggelig! ④ Han er en hyggelig mann. ⑤ Ha en hyggelig kveld!
You are welcome! He is a nice man. Have a pleasant evening!
Tusen. Vel, takk! / Bra, takk! Takk, kanksje. Kanskje i Norge. Kanskje ikke.
Thousand. Well, thanks! Thanks, maybe. Maybe in Norway. Maybe not. 34
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Notes ①H " a en hyggelig helg !" would be a good translation. "God helg!" is way more common.
② God helg og god tur! Q: Can you also say "God helg og tur!"? A: It does sound a bit off. This is because both"god helg" and ' god tur' are commonly used expressions, so it sounds strange in the same way that "Merry Christmas and New Year! " does. (Deliciae)
③ The word for “please” in English in origin is short for something like, "if it pleases you " you are under no obligation to do this for me. It’s the same as in other languages, like "s'il vous plait" in French. Norwegian doesn’t have a similar expression in common use. Instead, it has “vær så snill” (literally, be “ so kind ”) and “er du snill” (literally: i“f you are kind ”). (Adrian442793) ④ Vær så god, Bare hyggelig, Takk
Handing over a thing : Vær så god (Here you are) Recieving a thing or favour : Takk The response to takk or similar phrase is Bare hyggelig (IceColors)
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Bare hyggelig "Bare" means "only", "hyggelig" means "enjoyable", "pleasant" or "cosy". It means you enjoyed helping them out. (alek_d) ⑤ 'Han er en hyggelig mann.' fin vs hyggelig vs snill Q: I put "han er en nett mann" and was marked incorrect A: "nett" is an adjective you would use about a small, slim, elegant lady. An expression out of fashion for some decades I think, at least about people. [deactivated user] Q: I put "han er en fin mann" and was marked correct A: Stick with h " yggelig ". "Fin", when applied to people, is often to do with appearance. (Adrian442793) Q: Can you say "han er en snill mann"? A: "snill" means k" ind " and the meaning is different from h " yggelig ". [deactivated user] "Hyggelig" could mean "attractive"! "Han er hyggelig. " But in the sentence above, it's just " nice " generally. (Adrian442793) Q: So hygge is both a danish and norwegian term? A: Yes, we couldn't let them have all the "hygge". (Deliciae) Hyggelig: from Old Danish hyggæ , from Old Norse hyggja (“to think”), from Proto-Germanic *hugjaną (“to think, reconsider”). (Wiktionary) 37
Kanskje “Kanskje” was originally short for “Det kan skje at ”. There are two possible word orders that follow. It’s up to you. If you treat it as introducing a subordinate clause, word order is subject + “ikke” (if there is an “ikke”) + verb. But you can also treat it as an adverb. In which case, simply invert subject and verb. Q: Is "kanskje" pronounced with an English "sh" sound like in "ship" or German "ch" as in "dich" ? Am I right in thinking "kj " has the "dich " sound but "skj " has the "ship " sound? Adrian442793 Hopefully Fveldig or a native speaker can comment here, because I'm a bit uncertain. What I currently think is: "Sk", "skj", "rs" = English "sh". "Kj", "ki", "ky", "tj" are indeed pronounced like "ch" in some dialects, particularly in west Norway. However, for standard Eastern Norwegian, watch this video and pay attention to her lip movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqbt4mM3avQ
There may be other pronunciations across Norway as well. I think I've heard it pronounced with less of an "s" sound and more of an "h" sound, for instance. Another way to look at this... http://www.hf.ntnu.no/ipa/no/ipachart_no_cons.html
On that chart, the "sk" is classed as "postalveolar fricative". The "ky" is classed under "palatal other symbols", with the note "Overgang fra plosiv til frikativ som fungerer som en fonologisk enhet" ("Transition from plosive to fricative that acts as a phonological unit"). 38
Beklager vs Unnskyld Beklager comes from the verb sentence 'I apologise' (Jeg beklager) [or insert any other pronoun, of course], so I'd use this when something is my fault. Unnskyld doubles as 'Excuse me' , so I'd say it more when something's kind of out of my control, like having to push through a crowd to get off a bus, for example. -- But then if I stepped on someone's toe while doing so:
Jeg beklager! In practice, beklager and unnskyld are largely interchangeable tho, I would say.
Dessverre is an adverb meaning 'unfortunately' or 'regrettably', so you can't really just say it by itself (except as a single word answer where the question has supplied the context). Generally has to go in a sentence like 'No, unfortunately [I'm sorry] we don't don't have any' (Nei, dessverre har vi ingen.) You could potentially also encounter "Jeg ber om unnskyldning" which is like 'I ask you to excuse me/I ask for your forgiveness' .
(comeoutcomeout) I would add that beklager can be used both in a similar manner as unnskyld and dessverre 1) Used when you're responsible for what happened: " Beklager/unnskyld, det var ikke meningen. "(I'm sorry, that was not my intention.) , often understood in the same sense as I"'m sorry, I didn't mean to do that. " 2) Used when you're not responsible:"Beklager/dessverre, vi er utsolgt." ("I'm sorry/ufortunately, we are sold out") . You could, however, not use the word beklager in the sentence V " i er dessverre utsolgt "("We are unfortunately sold out") . Both unnskyld and beklager would only be used as interjections. (vtopphol) I (native) would certainly use unnskyld (åh, unnskyld! ) if I bumbed into someone, but if it was a real crash I would probably say "beklAger!", with extra emphasis on the A. (Erik Natvig) 39
Vocabulary
(Tree 4) ha
have
unnskyld
sorry, excuse me, pardon
vær så snill
please, be so kind
takk
thank you, thanks
trenger
needs, requires
elsker
loves
ja
yes
nei
no
eller
or
kanskje
maybe, perhaps
tusen
(a) thousand
bra
good, nice
hyggelig
nice, pleasant
bare
only, just
en tur
a trip
en/ei natt
a night
en/ei helg
a weekend
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Unit1 Lesson7 Food 1 Sentences Det er pepper. Salt og pepper. Har vi pepper? Nei, vi trenger pepper.
It/that is pepper. Salt and pepper. Do we have pepper? No, we need pepper.
Ja, vi har sukker. De har sukker og salt. Mannen spiser en tomat og salt.
Yes, we have sugar. They have sugar and salt. The man is eating a tomato and salt.
Anden har et egg. Spiser hun et egg? Har vi ost? Vi spiser ost og et egg.
The duck has an egg. Is she eating an egg? Do we have cheese? We are eating cheese and an egg.
Hun spiser ikke suppe. Vi spiser tomatsuppe. Kvinnen og jenta spiser suppe. Kvinnen spiser kyllingsuppe.
She does not eat soup. We are eating tomato soup.
Hun liker pasta. Mannen spiser ikke pasta. Trenger dere frokost?
She likes pasta. The man does not eat pasta. Do you need breakfast?
The woman and the girl are eating soup.
The woman is eating chicken soup.
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Bjørnen liker fisk. Har du en fisk?
The bear likes fish. Do you have a fish?
En kylling. Hun elsker kylling. Jeg spiser kylling og fisk.
A chicken. She loves chicken. I eat chicken and fish.
Bjørnen drikker øl. Hun har en øl. ① En mann og en kvinne drikker øl. Et barn drikker ikke øl. Han har et glass melk. Har du et glass vann?
The bear drinks beer/ale. She has a beer. A man and a woman are drinking beer. A child doesn't drink beer. He has a glass of milk. Do you have a glass of water?
Et glass vann, takk! ②
A glass of water, please!
En frokost. Han lager mat.
A breakfast. He is cooking. (makes food)
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Notes ① En
øl vs et øl "En øl" is used about a unit of beer and is a countable noun, "et øl" is used about a type of beer, or in a general sense, and is an uncountable noun. (Deliciae)
② Et glass vann, takk!
Q: I thought please was 'vær så snill' A: "Vær så snill " literally means "be so kind " and AFAIK is used in sentences where you ask someone to do something for you.
"Vær så snill og gi meg et glass vann ", for example. You don't use it in general to say "please": "I will have two sandwiches, please " Jeg vil gjerne ha to smørbrød, takk ". (Jan_D_13) I used to think exactly the same thing, but apparently: • •
You can stick “vær så snill ” on the end of a sentence; “Takk ” and “er du snill ” are commoner and felt to be less clunky; • It’s possible to put “vær så snill ” at the start, but it can often feel a bit like begging, as it sometimes can in English;
However, putting it mid-sentence after å kunne is fine: “Kan du være så snill å gi meg et glass vann? ” (Adrian442793)
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Cooking In this skill, you'll learn the verb lager , which translates to make . There's no separate verb for cooking , instead, we use lager mat , literally make food . Han lager mat. He is cooking .
Measure Words Remember that in Norwegian, the word for of, av, is omitted where one would normally use it in English to join a measure word with another noun. en kopp kaffe a cup of coffee
et glass vann a glass of water
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Vocabulary (Tree 4) å lage
to make
å lage mat
to cook
en fisk
a fish
et kjøtt
a meat
en pasta
a pasta
en/ei suppe
a soup
en kylling
a chicken
mat (m)
food
en frokost
a breakfast
en ost
a cheese
en frukt
a fruit
en tomat
a tomato
et glass
a glass
en øl
a (unit of) beer
et salt
a salt
et egg
an egg
et sukker
a sugar
en pepper
a pepper (not bell pepper!) 46
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Unit1 Lesson8 - People1 Sentences They're reading it. They see us. I see you. Does she see us? Who has it?
De leser det. De ser oss. Jeg ser deg. Ser hun oss? Hvem har den? Unnskyld meg.
①
Excuse me.
Ulven spiser henne ikke. ② Bjørnen spiser ham. Gutten spiser dem.
The wolf is not eating her. The bear is eating him. The boy is eating them.
Jeg liker den. ③ De liker det. Hvem liker deg? Barnet liker meg. Vi liker dem. Jeg liker det ikke, jeg elsker det! ④
I like it. They like it. Who likes you? The child likes me. We like them. I don't like it, I love it!
Barnet elsker deg. Barnet elsker dere. De elsker dere. Dere elsker dem. Du elsker ham. Hun elsker ham. Elsker han deg? Kvinnen elsker dem. Kanskje han elsker meg.
The child loves you. The child loves you (pl). They love you (pl). You love them. You love him. She loves him. Does he love you? The woman loves them. Maybe he loves me.
⑤ 48
Vær så snill, jeg trenger den! Vær så snill, vi trenger deg. De trenger oss. Trenger du den? Vi trenger ikke dem.
Please, I need it! Please, we need you. They need us. Do you need it? We do not need them.
Hun viser ham edderkoppen. Han viser henne en bok. De viser oss bjørnen. Hva viser du meg?
She shows him the spider. He shows her a book. They are showing us the bear. What are you showing me?
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Notes ① Unnskyld meg. Q: Why do we need 'meg' here? A: You don't really need it here. I only use "unnskyld meg" as an exclamation, and not a way to say pardon. So "Unnskyld meg!" would be used for instance in order to make a person aware that you don't think what they are doing is ok, or that you completely disagree with them. (vtopphol) ② Ulven spiser henne ikke. Q: Can you also say 'Ulven spiser ikke henne'? A: Yes, but it sounds like you're implying that the wolf is eating someone else. (Luke_5.1991) The meaning also depends, like in English, on intonation. The sentence "Ulven spiser ikke henne" could both be understood as "The wolf is not eating her .", "The wolf is not eating her." and "The wolf is not eating her.", and even "The wolf is not eating her ". It all depends on the level of stress you put on the words. Putting "ikke" at the end negates the whole sentence. (vtopphol) ③ Jeg liker den. Q: 'Jeg liker den.' sounds like 'Jeg likeren' A: If you have d or n after r , they usually merge together and form one sound, so you can hardly hear the d . (fruen_fra_havet)
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④ Jeg
liker det ikke, jeg elsker det!
Q: Can I say "Jeg liker ikke det"? A: Yes. But when you have a pronoun object (in this case, “det “), the normal position of the “ikke” is after the pronoun. Putting the pronoun last emphasises it. Jeg liker ikke det. Jeg liker dette. (Adrian442793) ⑤ Kanskje
han elsker meg.
Q: Why isn't it 'kanskje elsker han meg' A: That’s one of the exceptions. Originally it was short for “Det kan skje at”. Ie, it introduced a subordinate clause. Subordinate clause word order is subject + midfield adverb + verb. However, it can also be treated as an adverb, rather than subjunction. In this case, subject and verb would invert. Ie, your version would be accepted also. (Adrian442793)
Pronomen subjekt form jeg du han hun det den vi dere de
objekt form meg deg ham, han henne det den oss dere dem
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refleksiv-objektiv meg deg seg seg seg seg oss dere seg
Vocabulary (Tree 4) viser
to show
å se
to see
å like
to like
å elske
to love
å lese
to read
Object Pronouns meg
me
deg
you (sg)
ham
him
henne
her
oss
us
dere
you (pl)
dem
them
det
it (n)
den
it (m,f)
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Unit1 Lesson9 - Definites Sentences De spiser maten. Spiser dere maten? Her er pastaen! Gutten og jenta spiser pastaen.
They eat the food. Are you eating the food? Here is the pasta! The boy and the girl are eating the pasta.
Hvem har eplet? Eplet er ikke en tomat. Der er tomaten.
Who has the apple? The apple is not a tomato. There is the tomato.
Kvinnen har brødet.
The woman has the bread.
Kvinnen spiser ikke fisken. Fisken elsker vann.
The woman does not eat the fish. The fish loves water.
Spiser han sukkeret? Nei, ikke sukkeret! Hun spiser ikke sukkeret. Det er sukker i frukten. Frukten er et eple.
Is he eating the sugar? No, not the sugar! She is not eating the sugar. There's sugar in the fruit. The fruit is an apple.
Hun spiser ikke saltet. Hunden spiser kjøttet. Hvem har kjøttet? Kjøttet er kylling.
She is not eating the salt. The dog eats the meat. Who has the meat? The meat is chicken.
Jeg er osten. ① Hunden spiser ikke osten.
I am the cheese. The dog is not eating the cheese. 54
Barnet liker suppen/suppa. Er det pepper i suppa/suppen? Vet du hvor saltet er? ② Vi spiser ikke risen. De har risen.
The child likes the soup. Is there pepper in the soup? Do you know where the salt is? We're not eating the rice. They have the rice.
Han liker hytta/hytten. Han har ei/en hytte. ③ Hvor er hytta? Har de en/ei hytte? Jeg vet hvor brevet er.
He likes the cabin. He has a cabin. Where is the cabin? Do they have a cabin/chalet?I know where the letter is.
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Notes ①
I Am the Cheese is a young adult novel by the American writer Robert Cormier, published in 1977.
② Vet du hvor saltet er? Q: Why is "Vet du hvor er saltet" not acceptable? A: For direct questions, you "invert" (swap) the positions of subject and main verb. Instead of "Saltet er der", you'd say, "Hvor er saltet?". However, in the Duo sentence above, the "hvor " introduces an indirect question, not a direct question, and different rules apply to word order. Now, it becomes the normal word order for subordinate clauses, which doesn't invert subject and main verb. The same thing goes for English, incidentally: "Where is the salt? " (verb before subject), but "Do you know where the salt is? " (subject of the subordinate clause before the verb). (Adrian442793) ③ Hytte (cabin, chalet) is both feminine and masculine "ei hytte" (f) or "en hytte" (m) So the definite form can be "hytta" (f) or "hytten" (m) the cabin
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Definite Forms The definite form ("the man", "the woman", et cetera) is formed by placing the indefinite article, "a/an", or in Norwegian, "en/et", at the end of the word instead of at the beginning. This is called a postfix or a suffix. Indefinite
Definite
en mann
a man
mannen
the man
et barn
a child
barnet
the child
For feminine-classified nouns, there is one irregularity: Indefinite
Definite
ei kvinne OR en kvinne
a woman
kvinna OR kvinnen
the woman
ei jente OR en jente
a girl
jenta OR jenten
the girl
Both jenta and jenten are appropriate translations for the girl . These same endings apply to all feminine nouns. It is also normal to use the masculine article "en" for indefinite forms, even when preferring a feminine suffix in definite. This is not considered an error! Indefinite
Definite
en jente
a girl
jenta
the girl
en øy
an island
øya
the island
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Vocabulary (Tree 4) -en
definite suffix: the
brevet
the letter
en/ei hytte
a cabin
kjøttet
the meat
osten
the cheese
sukkeret
the sugar
egget
the egg
kyllingen
the chicken
maten
the food
eplet
the apple
vannet
the water
frukten
the fruit
brødet
the bread
ølen
the beer
suppen
the soup
boken
the book
pastaen
the pasta
risen
the rice
saltet
the salt
tomaten
the tomato
fisken
the fish
avisen
the newspaper
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Unit1 Lesson10 - Plurals Sentences Ender spiser brød. De har tusen ender! Hva trenger ender? Spiser fugler frukt? ① Fugler spiser ikke hester. Fugler drikker ikke melk. Det er fugler her. Bjørner spiser ender. Bjørner drikker vann. Hva spiser bjørner? Spiser bjørner ender? Hunder liker katter. Vi har katter og hunder. Vi har katter og kyllinger. Jeg elsker hunder! Ja, han har flere hunder. Mange hunder drikker melk. Hva spiser hester. Har du/dere hester? Det er flere hester der. Det er mange edderkopper der. Gutten liker ikke dyr.
Ducks eat/are eating bread. They have a thousand ducks! What do ducks need? Do birds eat fruit? Birds dont eat horses. Birds don't drink milk. There are birds here. Bears eat ducks. Bears drink water. What do bears eat? Do bears eat ducks? Dogs like cats. We have cats and dogs. We have cats and chickens. I love dogs! Yes, he has several dogs. Many dogs drink milk. What do horses eat? Do you have horses? There are several horses there. There are many spiders there. The boy doesn't like animals.
Mange har hytter. ② Mange hytter har mat. Er det mange hytter i Norge? Ja, det er mange hytter her. Har han mange hytter?
Many have cabins. Many cabins have food. Are there many cabins in Norway? Yes, there are many cabins here. Does he have many cabins? 60
Vi er jenter. De er jenter. De er jenter, ikke gutter. Vi er gutter og jenter. Jenta liker bøker. Leser han bøker? Barn spiser kyllinger. Barn leser brev. Han leser brev. Han har flere brev. Ja, jeg har mange brev. Har du noen brev? Aviser og brev. Mannen leser aviser. Mannen leser flere aviser.
We are girls. They're girls. They are girls, not boys. We are boys and girls. The girl likes books. Does he read books? Children eat chickens. Children read letters. He is reading/reads letters. He has several letters. Yes, I have many letters. Do you have any letters? Newspapers and letters. The man reads newspapers. The man reads several newspapers.
Jeg liker menn. Dere er menn. Dere er ikke menn. Vi har noen epler.
I like men. You're men. You are not men. We have some apples.
Vi har ikke sykler. Trenger dere sykler? Menn liker sykler. Hun har mange sykler.
We don't have bicycles. Do you need bicycles? Men like bicycles. She has a lot of bicycles.
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Notes mange is used for countables mye for uncountables mange bøker, mange hus mye vann, mye snø ①
Spiser fugler frukt?
Q: If I was shocked so i would say "birds eat fruit? " would that translate to Norwegian as well by saying "Fugler spiser frukt? " A: Yep, you can do that in real life. Ie, with your tone of voice you can make a statement into a question in both English and Norwegian. You can even add little tags to the end to make this more obvious. “Fugler spiser frukt, ikke sant? ” (“Birds eat fruit, don’t they? ”) But for the purposes of Duo, and expressing questions grammatically rather than with tone of voice, you have to invert verb and subject... (Adrian442793) ②
flere vs mange
'flere' can mean 'more' (for countable things) or 'several', while 'mange' means 'many' or 'a lot of'. As for the difference between 'several ' and 'many ' ... well, it's subjective, but these words go in this order: • a couple, et par: 2 (sometimes slightly more than 2 in english) • a few/some, noen: 3 (or wherever 'a couple' stops for the person in english) to some arbitrary stopping point • several, flere: more than 'a few' or 'some' to some other stopping point • many, mange: more than several (anamorphism)
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Plurals With few exceptions, most masculine or feminine nouns (most nouns) pluralize with -er or -r. Norwegian
English
eple
apple
epler
apples
gutt
boy
gutter
boys
jente
girl
jenter
girls
Single-syllable neuter nouns, such as hus house and dyr animal , often do not change spelling in the indefinite plural. Norwegian
English
hus
house or houses
dyr
animal or animals
barn
child or children
How then can you tell the difference between hus meaning house and hus meaning houses ? That depends on context and adjective endings, which we will cover a bit later in the course. One exception to these rules is the Norwegian word for "man" which pluralizes in an irregular way that's almost identical to English: Norwegian
English
mann
man
menn
men
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Here are some additional common irregular plurals, a couple of which are also irregular in English. Singular
Plural
English Translation
and
ender
duck - ducks
bok
bøker
book - books
fot
føtter
foot - feet
hånd
hender
hand - hands
natt
netter
night - nights
tann
tenner
tooth - teeth
tre
trær
tree - trees
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Vocabulary (Tree 4) noen
some, any
hester
horses
flere
several, multiple, more
bjørner
bears
mange
many
epler
apples
en sykkel
a bicycle
hytter
cabins
katter
cats
kvinner
women
aviser
newspapers
kyllinger
chickens
jenter
girls
dyr
animal, animals
fugler
birds
brev
latter, letters
gutter
boys
barn
child, children
hunder
dogs
menn
men
ender
ducks
-er
indefinite plural suffix
bøker
books
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Norwegian (Bokmål) for English speakers
About the course Norwegian is the native language of 5 million people. We teach Norwegian Bokmål ("Book Tongue”), which is used in 92%of all written publications. Take a trip to the Kingdom of Norway and see its famous fjords with your own eyes. Visit to practice for the next Winter Olympics in the land that holds the most medals, and to take a drive through the world’s longest road tunnel. Or start learning Norwegian simply because you're fascinated by the northern lights and the midnight sun, the people, viking history, and of course the various places named after trolls.
Did you know? Learners who complete through Unit 5 on Duolingo achieve similar reading and listening proficiency as university students after studying for four semesters! And after 7 units, Duolingo learners look similar to university students after five semesters.
Course contributors
Linn
Andrew Feinberg
Deliciae Contributed 41%
Luke_5.1991 Contributed 39%
Aleksander alek_d Contributed 5%
Iorua Contributed 3%
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Regney Contributed 8%
The Norwegian Team Meets up in Norway! 6 years ago
After nearly a year of online-only communication, four of our six team members met in one place today!
From left to right, Iorua, Deliciae, fveldig and Luke_5.1991
It was an incredible experience meeting up, and we hope to do so again soon!
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