Posts under "Grammar"

Norwegian Compound Words

Posted by kari 1 Comment
Nov 22 2011

Small Animal Clinic

Menneskerettighetsorganisasjoner (human rights organizations) is one of the longer compound words in Norwegian.  Others include sannsynlighetsmaksimeringsestimator (maximum likelihood estimator), and En mMidsommernattsdrøm (A Midsummer Night´s Dream).

The Norwegian language has quite a few compound words in it.  In my experience as a new student of the Norwegian language, as well as as an instructor, compound words can be difficult for new learners.  Especially at the beginning, it can be difficult to separate the individual words within compound words.  You may have just learned the word menneske (person) but when you see it with rettighetsorganisasjoner, it looks completely different and you might not notice it right away.  It becomes even more difficult when the word you may know is in the middle of a compound word, i.e. natt in midsommernattsdrøm. The word natt kind of gets lost.

Although it may be difficult, learning compound words is important in understanding and speaking Norwegian.  The reason for this is because compound words are words themselves separately and you can severely mislead or misunderstand your audience if you use compound words by themselves.  An example of this is: lammekoteletter (lamb chops) broken up into lamme koteletter (lame or paralyzed chops).  Another example is røykfritt (smoke-free) or røyke fritt (smoke freely), the exact opposite of the intended meaning.  The reason these easy-to-make errors exist is because usually one word is a noun and one word a verb or an adjective so the tense of the words can change as well as involve an action.

I think compound words are a fun part of the language to learn about because you learn about several different words in one and it quickly teaches you to pay attention to detail.  It is also important to stress the right syllable in compound words (i.e. stress lamme in lammekotelleter).

And to name a few more:

smult ring (lard ring) and smultring (doughnut)

klippfisk (clipfish) and klipp fisk (cut fish)

århundre (century) and år hundre (year one hundred)

sommerfugl (butterfly) and sommer fugl (summer bird)

I like compound words.  They´re fun.

 

The Norwegian Word ´På´

Posted by kari 4 Comments
Sep 2 2011

Several days ago, I wrote a post about the many different ways to use the word ´til´in Norwegian.  At first glance, one might think it´s confusing and a bit ridiculous that a language would use one word in so many different ways.  However, the word ´to´in English has many different meanings or is used in many different ways as well.

Just when you thought you could rest easy and let ´til´sink in…I have seen several requests to see a post about the word ´på´in Norwegian and so I listen to my readers and meet the request:)  By the way, I really appreciate it when you let me know what you would like to learn about.  I do not anticipate ever completely run out of topics to write about, but it is certainly helpful to receive ideas now and then on those days that I am totally braindead and think that I cannot possibly think of something to write about that I haven´t addressed in previous posts.

Back to ´på´….First, I´d like you to copy and paste the following link into a new browser and click on the PLAY triangle to hear the word ´på´pronounced..

http://www.forvo.com/word/på/

With just one syllable, it is a very simple word to pronounce.  While it sounds very similar to Poe, as in the last name of Edgar Allen, if you listen a tad more closely and better yet, if you watch a native Norwegian speaker´s mouth when they pronounce this word, you will notice a sound absent in the English language.  If one says på quickly, it is almost impossible for the speaker to enunciate the extra sound that you will hear if the speaker pronounces it slowly.  If one says it slowly, it is almost as if one adds a lightning fast ´ø´on the end.  I´m sitting hear pronouncing the word out loud to myself while I attempt to determine how to explain the positions my mouth has to be in.

The American pronunciation of the last name Poe stresses the P.  The Norwegian pronunciation of the word på stresses the å.  You almost have to drop your chin a bit and get a bit manly if you are a girl to get the dynamics of the pronunciation down.

Listen to the link again and then start listening for the word på when you are streaming the news, watching a Norwegian movie, or if you are in the presence of a Norwegian conversation.

To conclude, let´s look at the various definitions of and ways to use the word på.  

På can translate to the following meanings in English: to, upon, at, onto, after, towards, for, in, of, by, by means of, and with.

See på used in a variety of different ways:

Jeg skal på skole i dag.  I´m going to school today.

Hva holder du på med?  What are you doing?

gang på gang-time after time

langt på natt-late at night

De er på besøk til universitetet.  They are on a visit to the university.

Min kjæreste er kapteninen på skipet.  My boyfriend is the captain on the ship.

Har du tyggis på deg?  Do you have gum on you?

Det er fem på åtte på morgenen.  It is five to eight in the morning.

Hun syklet 20 kilometer på en time.  She bicycled 20 km in one hour.

Silje kjenner det på lukten.  Silje recognizes it by its smell.

There are also many words that begin with på as a prefix and many words that contain på as a suffix.  Let´s look at these in a different post.  I think you have enough to absorb with just plain på.

 

 

 

The Norwegian word “til”

Posted by kari 2 Comments
Aug 28 2011

The word “til” in Norwegian has mange betydninger (many meanings), including to, until, for, by, with, at, of, through, as, and on.  It is one of the most commonly used words in the language.  Even the simplest of sentences for beginning Norwegian students inlcude the word “til” often.  The following is a list of sentences that include the word “til:”

Jeg skal til lege.  I’m going to the doctor.

Han har et brev til deg.  He has a letter for you.

Vi jobber mandag til fredag.  We work Monday through Friday.

Til frokost spiste de brød med pålegg.  For breakfast they ate bread with toppings.

Erik skal ikke spise dessert til jul.  Erik is not going to eat dessert until Christmas.

Døtrene til Hans reiser til USA.  Hans´ daughters (the daughters of Hans) are traveling to the USA.

Alle skal drikke et glass vin til maten.  Everyone will drink a glass of wine with the food.

Guttene gikk hele veien til fots.  The boys went the whole way on/by foot.

Han kommer til å være sur på deg.  He is going to be made at you.

Kan jeg få en til?  Can I have one more?

Vi må vente like til han kommer.  We must wait clear until he comes.

As you can see, the word ´til´in Norwegian is used in many different ways.  Once you understand all of the different meanings of the word, you will be able to look at Norwegian text and understand which meaning the word carries in that sentence.

Good luck with ´til´!

The Norwegian verb ´to be´

Posted by kari No Comments
Feb 24 2011

å være eller å ikke være-to be or not to be.  det er spørsmålet-that is the question.

Alright, I couldn´t resist after I decided to write a post about the verb ´to be´-å være.

This is a verb that we probably use more than any other.  In some or another we talk about ourselves and how we feel or what we are doing.  We use the verb in several  forms.  For example:

Jeg er amerikansk.  I am American.

Hun var trøtt.  She was tired.

Vi skulle være først.  We would be first.

Han burde ha vært der.  He should have been there.

De kommer til å være glade. They will be happy.

So to make it a bit easier to get the tenses down (remember there is no verb conjugation :)  ), see the table below:

Infinitive Present Past Perfect

å være                            er                                      var                      har vært

And here is the present tense for all of the different pronouns (again notice, no verb conjugation:)   ):

Jeg er Morten. I am Morten.

Du er Morten. You are Morten.

Han er Morten. He is Morten.

Hun er Anne. She is Anne.

Det er Morten. It is/This is Morten.

Vi er Morten og Anne. We are Morten and Anne.

Dere er Morten og Anne. You are Morten and Anne.

De er Morten og Anne. They are Morten and Anne.

How about if you want to ask a question?

Most of the time, the verb placement follows the same rule as all other verbs-they are in place #1.  Unless of course you are using the verb in the infinitve form such as example 2 below.  Or if you are asking a question regarding time (example 3).

Er du hjemme? Are you at home?

2.  Burde du ha vært der? Should you have been there?

3. Når skal du være ferdig? When will you be ready?

It´s a pretty easy verb, but is irregular.  The vowel changes from a straight ´a´to an ´æ,´ but once you have that down, it´s pretty simple.  Try to use it!

 

Norwegian past perfect verbs

Posted by kari 2 Comments
Jan 4 2011

In the last two posts, you learned about both weak and strong past tense verbs.  In this post, we are going to concentrate on Norwegian verbs in the present perfect tense.  I have no idea why this tense is named ´Present perfect´.  The past perfect tense is used when you want to refer to something that has already occurred, but may still be relevant right now.  So instead of saying, jeg ble trøtt (I got tired), I say jeg har blitt trøtt´(I have become tired), meaning that I am still tired, it wasn´t a feeling that came and went.  Other examples include;

English Infinitive Past Present Perfect
to see å se så har sett
to be å være var har vært
to try å prøve prøvde har prøvd
to drink å drikke drakk har drukket
to help å hjelpe hjalp har hjulpet
to sleep å sove sov har sovet
to eat å spise spiste har spist
to throw å kaste kastet har kastet
to do å gjøre gjorde har gjort
to go å gå gikk har gått
to go å dra dro har dratt
to visit å besøke besøkte har besøkt
to push å trykke trakk har trukket
to meet å treffe traff har truffet

Can you identify the weak and the strong verbs?  Notice that some of the strong verbs involve a vowel change from the infinitive to the past and then typically return to the original vowel in the present perfect.  Why?  Again, I do not know the whys of Norwegian grammar.  I have just memorized that which requires memorization.

Here are some sample sentences:

Vi har kastet ballen i en time. We have thrown the ball for an hour.

Han har prøvd å legge vekt på ham. He has tried to put weight on.

De har truffet flere ganger der.   They have met several times there.

Hun har sett 45 filmer i år. She has seen 45 movies this year.

Ingrid har hjulpet meg siden begynnelsen av semesteret.  Ingrid has helped me since the beginning of the semester.

Pappa har vært syk i det siste. Pappa has been sick lately.

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