Stuff for people who learn Norwegian

Norwegian words and stuff! I'm teaching my boyfriend Norwegian, so I figured I might just teach the internet while I'm at it.

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Dagens ord (Word of the Day): forrige = previous

Du leste dette i forrige sekund . . . Translation: You read this in the previous [/past] second

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): en venn = a friend

“Den eneste måten å få en venn på, er å være en” . . . Translation: “The only way to get a friend is to be one”

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): akkurat = exactly

Comic text:  - Nei og nei. Det regner. Jeg får ikke gjort noe av det jeg ville! - Yay! Det regner. Jeg får gjort akkurat det jeg ville! . . . Translation: - Oh no. It’s raining. I won’t get to do any of the stuff I wanted to do! - Yay! It’s raining. I’ll get to do exactly what I wanted to do! [they’re using the phrasing “få gjort” = “get done”, but I couldn’t find a way to use that phrasing in English without it sounding stilted/jumbled]

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): Frisør (m) - hairdresser

So today’s example is another pun!

“Hos frisøren:

- Hvordan vil du ha det?

- Jeg vil ha det sånn som broren min

- Hvordan har han det?

- Nei, han har det bare bra”

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Explanation: 

As you might know, “Hvordan har du det?” is a way to ask “How are you?”, and as follows, you could also ask “hvordan har han/hun det?” to inquire about how someone else is doing. However, literally it means “How does he/she have it?” which is why this pun works :) The joke disappears in the translation, but here’s a word-for-word translation anyway:

“At the hairdresser’s:

- How would you like it?

- I want it the way my brother has it

- How does he have it?

- Oh, he’s fine”

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): å synes = to think

(as in, to have an opinion about something - not as in “ponder”, that’s “å tenke”)

A fitting quote for these days of end-of-term exams:

“Synes eksamen i går var så gøy at jeg skal ta den på nytt neste semester”

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Translation:

“I think the exam yesterday was so fun that I’m going to take it again next semester”

“Synes” is a so-called “s verb”, basically just meaning that it ends with an “s” in both the infinitive and conjugated forms. Here’s the conjugation: 

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): et liv - a life

(it's a normal neuter noun, so it's: livet - the life, flere liv - several lives, alle livene - all the lives)

and something most people who have been watching skam can probably relate to:

“Når du har sett ferdig en serie og ikke vet hva du skal gjøre med livet lenger”

Translation:

“When you’ve finished watching a series and no longer know what to do with (your) life”

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Dagens ord (Word of the Day): å kjøpe - to buy

This is a regular verb, so it goes “kjøper - kjøpte - har kjøpt.”

Another pun :D

Text:

Kjøpte meg nettopp en spansk bil. El bil

Explanation:

“Elbil” means electric car in Norwegian (short for “elektrisk bil”, which nobody says), while “el” of course is a noun article in Spanish

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Dagens ord (Word of the Day): dør (m/f) - door

Today's example is mainly just a pun :p but also a reminder about plural forms, I suppose!

Text:

1 dør + 1 dør = 2 dører Bare litt dørmatte

Translation:

One door + one door = two doors Just a little door maths / doormat (matte in Norwegian means both mat and math)​

Like other feminine nouns, “dør” can also be used with the masculine declination/article:

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): En kropp - a body

Just to get to use this legendary Skam line :)

“Det som er så bra med tortilla, er at det er laget av potet. Kroppen din trenger potet”

Translation: “The thing that’s so good about tortilla is that it’s made of potatoes. Your body needs potatoes”

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): å få = to get (to)

e.g. "Jeg får alltid kake på bursdagen min" = I always get cake on my birthday or "Jeg får spise hele kaken selv" = I get to eat the whole cake myself

The verb has a couple more variations in meaning (like "to get someone to do something"), but these are the main ones (and I think the others are best picked up from the context).

NB: When "få" is not used as a verb, it means "few"! E.g. "Han leste få bøker i år" = "He read few books this year"

Comic text: Cyan: Tror du det finnes en himmel? Et paradis der man får hvile etter dette? Nemi: Vi kan bare håpe. Translation:  Cyan: Do you think there is a heaven? A paradise where one gets to rest after this? Nemi: We can only hope. 

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): å finnes = to exist

So this one is used more often than the actual verb “to exist” in English - often you’d just say “there is” as an equivalent for the Norwegian “det finnes” (it’s like “es gibt” in German).

In this comic, Cyan is quoting a well-known Norwegian idiom:  “Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær” meaning: “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”

(a very important piece of wisdom for anyone living in Norway)

Nemi’s response: “Jo, det [curse word symbols] gjør det!” (”Yes, there [curse word symbols] is!”)

“å finnes” is an irregular verb:

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Dagens ord (Word of the Day): ei/en dame - a lady

OR, in slang/casual spoken language, it can mean “a girlfriend”. It’s then often used with a possessive article, like "dama mi" (my girlfriend), "dama hans" (his girlfriend), "dama hennes" (her girlfriend). 

(and yeah, this word can be used with a feminine or masculine article, like most feminine nouns - when using it in the slang sense of "girlfriend" it's always feminine though, as using the masculine form is generally more formal (at least in Oslo, can’t speak for the rest of the country!))

Text:

*låner brillene til dama* Meg: Haha hvordan ser jeg ut nå Hun: JEG VET IKKE

Translation:

*borrowing the girlfriend's glasses* Me: Haha how do I look now She: I DON'T KNOW

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): i morgen = tomorrow

and “morgen” (m) as a noun means “morning” (e.g. “God morgen!”).

The cat in the comic speaks with a lisp, so just ignore the extra h’s in the last panel :D Comic text:

- I morgen er det “verdens skilpaddedag”! - Hvordan feirer man verdens skilpaddedag? - Sakte, men sikkert.”

Translation:

- Tomorrow’s “World Turtle Day”! - How do you celebrate World Turtle Day? - Slowly, but surely.

oder auf Deutsch:

- Morgen ist der Welt-Schildkröten-Tag! - Wie feiert man der Welt-Schildkröten-Tag? - Langsam, aber sicher.

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): hver = every

If used about a neuter noun, like "et hus", it's "hvert" - e.g. hvert hus = every house (German: jedes Haus). For all other nouns it's "hver".

An explanation for the comic:

A "nisse" is a Norwegian mythological creature, that comes in a lot of different varieties. They're kind of like gnomes maybe?

Translation:

“...hair gnomes?”

“ Do you have any other explanation for why one wakes up like this every morning?”

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): Å glede seg til - to look forward to

It’s a regular reflexive verb - e.g.: “Jeg gleder meg til festen” (I’m looking forward to the party),  “Han gledet seg til jul” (he was looking forward to christmas),  “Du har gledet deg til festen i mange uker nå” (you have been looking forward to the party for many weeks now) Today’s quote: Sønn (4): “Gleder meg til jeg blir stor, for da kan jeg kjøre selv til barnehagen” . . . . . . Translation: Son (4 years old): “I'm looking forward to when I get big [=grown up], because then I can drive to kindergarten myself”

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Dagens ord (Word of the day): skal = shall / is going to

I'd usually translate "skal" as "is going to" - though I think it's mostly used for plans and not for occurrences (for instance "Jeg skal reise til Oslo", but "Det kommer til å regne" = it's going to rain).

The inifinitive of this verb is "å skulle", but it's not used that much. "Skulle" is also the past tense though (e.g."Vi skulle spise pizza, men så hadde vi ikke tid" = We were going to eat pizza, but then we didn't have time"). Today’s quote: “Skal tilbringe valentinsdagen med den beste og flotteste jenta i verden! Meg selv. Jeg er den jenta.” . . . . Translation: “Going to spend valentine’s day with the best and most wonderful girl in the world! Myself. I am that girl.”

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Dagens ord (Word of the day) - å finne = to find

It's irregular in the past tense though, with a vowel change: Hun fant  - she found Hun har funnet - she has found Today’s comic: “Det er en mus i kjelleren!” “IIIIK!” (this is like a stereotypically feminine interjection) “Jeg finner kameraet!” “Jeg henter ost!” “Jeg pakker kofferten.” . . . Translation: “There’s a mouse in the basement!” “AAAAH!” “I’ll find the camera!” “I’ll get some cheese!” “I’m packing my bags” (lit. “I’m packing the suitcase)