Scandinavian language challenge day 15

Today I worked through chapter 4 of Norwegian in three months, covering:

• possessive adjectives
• adjective endings: exceptions
• adjectives: comparative
• object forms of personal pronouns
• time
• other words

Possessive adjectives

The possessive adjective can precede the noun in the indefinite, or instead follow a definite noun: min bil / bilen min.

An adjective after a possessive usually takes the -e suffix:
Hvor er min lille hund?

Possessive pronouns are usually not included with parts of the body, clothing etc.

• Han rister på hodet. He shakes his head.
• Du må ha tørre sokker på bene og et tykt skjerf rundt halsen.
  You must have dry socks and a thick scarf around your neck.

The possessive adjective can also be used as a possessive pronoun: Det bildet er ditt. That picture is yours.

Adjective endings: exceptions

Chapter 2 (see day 9) covers adjective endings. Here are some exceptions:

• Adjectives ending in -el, -en, -er drop the -e of the stem before adding the plural suffix -e: enkel (simple) becomes enkle.
• Some adjectives ending in -sk, -d, -s or -e add no -t in forming the neuter singular:
  • et norsk skip; et fremmed språk (a foreign language); et felles anliggende (a joint concern); et fristende tilbud (a tempting offer)
  • but: friskt smør (fresh butter); ferskt brod (fresh bread)
• adjectives ending in -s or -e add no further ending in the plural: felles anstrengelser (joint efforts); fristende tilbud (tempting offers).

Adjectives: comparison

Comparatives are mostly formed by adding -ere or -re and superlatives by adding -est or -st.
Example: lav (low); lavere (lower); lavest (lowest).

• Den veien er kortere enn de første.
  That road is shorter than the first one.
• Men denne veien er den korteste av dem alle.
  But this road is the shortest of all.

Polysyllabic adjectives (including verbal participles used as adjectives) form the comparative by adding mer (more) and their superlative by adding mest (most), in a manner similar to English:

• mer problematisk (more problematic);
• mest spennende (most exciting);
• mest fornyød (most satisfied).

Some irregular comparisons and superlatives:

Object forms of personal pronouns

The reflexive pronoun seg is used in the 3rd person (instead of ham / henne / den / det / dem) when referring back to the subject of the sentence:

• Han ber sin venn om å gjemme seg.
  He asks his friend to hide himself.
• Han ber sin venn om å gjemme ham (the requester).
  He asks his friend to hide him (the friend).

Time

Hva (or Hvor mange) er klokken? (What is the time?)
Klokken er ti. / Den er ti. (it is ten o’clock)
Den er ett minutt / fem / kvart (or et kvarter) over ti.
Den er ti på elleve / på halv elleve
Den er fem over halv elleve.
Den er kvart (or et kvarter) på halv elleve.
Ved vilket klokkeslett? (at what time?)
Klokken tolv middag / midnatt / ni om morgenen
Klokken no om kvelden / aftenen.
Klokken to om ettermiddagen.
på denne tiden (at this time)
uken (the week); ferien (the holiday)

Kl. = o’clock

Some of the other words in this chapter

Nouns (like in English or German):

• bagasjen (the baggage); mannskapet (the crew); setet (the seat); feilen (the fault); flagget (the flag); fjelltopppen (the mountain peak); en kvittering (a receipt);isbjørnen (the polar bear); badevær (swimming weather); forslaget (the suggestion); valget (the choice)

Nouns: clothing:

• klærne (the clothes); ytterklærne (outdoor clothes); undertøyet (underwear); sjøreisen (the cruise); strømpebuksene (tights); undertrøyen (the vest); sportskjorten (the sports skirt); genseren (sweater); boblejakken (te quilted jacket); den forede kappen (the lined overcoat)

other nouns: forretningsforbindelsene (the business associates); kjæresten (the boyfriend/girlfriend); ekspeditøren (the shop assistant);

Adjectives (like in English or German) : alt (everything); våken (awake, watchful); mager (lean, thin); høy (tall, high); underholende (entertaining); neste (next); riktig (right, correct); forsinket (late); pen (pretty); stygg (ugly); temmelig (fairly); vanlig (ordinary)

Verbs (like in English or German): hjelpe (help); anbefale (recommend); verbs: levere (deliver); besøke (visit); vaske (wash); skifte (shift);

Verbs (phrasal): stole på ham (to trust him); se ut some (look like); ha råd til (afford); komme med (come up with); sette pris på (appreciate); Fortelle dem hele historien! (Tell them the whole story!);

Other words: nokså (rather); der oppe (up there); takket værre (thanks to); uten (without); nok (enough); fort (quickly); hva slages (what kind of); forresten (besides); selv folgelig (of course); javel ((yes) certainly