Norwegian Blog

The time is ripe to talk about negation, although many of you have probably caught on to the methods of negation på norsk-that is-how to deny that something is true.  There are several different words to use, the most common of course is ikke, which means ‘not.’   One can also use knapt (hardly) and alldri (never). 

There are a few regler (rules) that we should look at before I start just rattling off examples of how to use these negation words in sentences.  Usually, the negation word falls after the verb in the sentence (and if there are two verbs, i.e. a modal verb and an active verb, it would fall between them).  Man bør ikke reise til Minnesota (notice ikke comes after the modal verb ‘should,’ bør). 

If there are several adverbial phrases in the sentence, the negation word comes in the final position before the end, which in the following case, is a prepositional phrase.  For example, Du kommer nesten aldri i tide (You almost never come on time). 

The negation word can come at the beginning of the sentence as well, however, ikke and knapt must be part of a clause that modifies another phrase.  For example, Ikke en bil var der (Not one car was there) or Knapt fem år har gått forbi siden han døde (Barely five years have gone by since he died).  Aldri can stand alone at the beginning of a sentence, without being part of a clause that modifies another phrase- Aldri har jeg gjort noe så skremmende (Never have I done something so scary).

Since ikke is the most common negation word used, let’s concentrate on ikke.

If the word ‘if’ is used, for example ‘If the computer doesn’t work…’ ikke is placed before the verb, Hvis datamaksinen ikke fungerer…

One can say hvis ikke… if not…

Another common phrase is ikke sant?  which means basically ‘isn’t that right?’

Jeg vil ikke jobbe i dag, men jeg må hvis jeg vil tjene penger, ikke sant?  I don’t want to work today, but I must if I want to earn money, right?

Prepositions part II.  In the last post, I gave you example sentences that used preposisjoner to describe location.  I used subjects that one finds i (in), på (on), under (under), over (over), mellom (between), ved siden av (next to), bak (behind), foran (in front of)…things in and around a house.  I still think that’s the best way to learn preposisjoner that describe location.  In this post, I’m going to give you examples of preposisjoner of time & distance, movement, and the rest.

Det har vært en uke siden jeg snakket med henne.  It has been one week since I talked to her.

Vil du gå på kino etter vi er ferdig med hjemmeleksene våre?  Do you want to go to a move after we are done with our homework?

Vonja jobber fra 07.30 til 15.30 hver dag.  Vonja works from 7:30am to/until 3:30pm.

Studentene må lese boka før de kan diskutere temaet.  The students must read the book before they can discuss the theme.

Om sommeren liker jeg å sykle.  During the summer I like to bike.

Det er cirka midnatt.  It is about midnight.

Jeg bor nær gården.  I live near the farm.

And now, for examples of preposisjoner that are used to describe movement.  You will notice that several of the words (ok, I’ll just tell you so you don’t have to look back at previous posts), look the same as the preposisjoner used to describe location can also be used to describe movement.  I am talking about inn and out.  This is an important thing to learn.  When you want to describe an object that is not in motion and you want to say that it is inside, you would use inne.  For eksempel ‘Katten sitter inne’ (The cat sits inside).  But if you want to describe the cat in motion and the cat is going in the house, you would say ‘Katten går inn’ (The cat is going in or the cat goes in).  See the difference?  You just leave off the ‘e’ when you are describing movement of an object in motion.  If the cat is outside, you would say ‘Katten sitter ute’ (The cat sits outside), but if the cat is on it’s way outside, you would say ‘Katten går ut’ (The cat is going out/the cat goes out.  Another preposisjon used to describe movement is mot (towards/against). 

Stian går mot meg for å gi med en klem.  Stian goes towards me to give me a kiss.

Husprisene går stadig ned.  House prices are going steadily down. 

Flyet flyr opp i luftet.  The plane flies up in the air.

Now, the rest of them, the misc. as I like to think of them.  Preposisjoner are really so flexible and used in so many different ways, sometimes I find it easier not to categorize them.  I think of them kind of like I think of conjunctions (and, but, or), more of the little words that connect words in sentences. 

Boka er skrevet av Erland Loe.  The book is written by Erland Loe. 

Bordet er bygd av eik. The table is built of oak.

Han går uten meg.  He goes without me. 

Hun trener med meg.  She trains (excercises) with me. 

Lene ville kjøpe billetter til alle unntatt Kristoffer.  Lene wanted to buy tickets for everyone except Kristoffer. 

There are many more examples I could provide you with, but I think you get the idea.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them.