Today I worked through chapter 8 of Norwegian in three months, covering:
- future tense
- reflexive verbs
- relative pronoun
- more about comparisons
- co-ordinating conjunctions
- other words
Future tense
Ways of talking about the future:
- with the present tense of the main verb:
Kommer di i morgen? (Are you coming tomorrow?)
Noen mennesker tviler på at flyplassen noen gang blir ferdig
(some people doubt that the airport will ever be finished) - with the verb kommer til å:
den kommer til å bli altfor dyr
it’s going to be too expensive - with the auxiliaries skal or vil, plus the infinitive of the main verb:
Jeg tror ikke de vil fullføre den
(I don’t think they will go through with it)
Reflexive verbs
The normal object forms of the pronoun (see lesson 4 on day 15) are also used for myself, yourself etc, but the form seg is used for himself / herself / themselves:
- jeg gleder meg (I enjoyed myself)
- han / hun / de gleder seg
(he / she / they enjoyed himself / herself /themselves)
Reflexive verbs (like reflexive verbs in English or German): sette seg (sit down); legge seg ([la, lagt, lie down); strekke seg (stretch); bøye seg (submit, bend down, like german sich biegen?); kle på seg (get dressed); bekymre seg (worry); forlove seg (get engaged, German sich verloben); undre se (wonder, German sich wundern); slutte seg til (join, German sich scliessen an?)
Other reflexive verbs (with obvious reflexive meaning): skynde seg (hurry); gifte seg (get married); skille seg (get divorced); hygge seg (have a good time); slanke seg (slim); kvitte seg med (get rid of)
Other reflexive verbs (with no obvious reflexive meaning): hvile seg (rest [related to English while, German Weile?]); komme seg på arbeidet (get off to work)
For emphasis, selv is used:
- Jeg vasker meg (I get washed)
- Jeg vasker meg selv (I wash myself, ie I do it myself)
- jeg vasker klærne selv (I wash the clothes myself)
- Kjenn deg selv! (Know yourself!)
The reflexive pronoun seg is also used to refer back to the subject of the clause:
- Herr Olsen bad henne om å vekke seg kl. 8
(Mr Olsen asked her to wake him [Mr Olsen] at 8) - Herr Olsen bad henne om å vekke ham kl.8)
(Mr Olsen asked her to wake him [someone else] at 8)
Relative pronoun
The relative pronoun som (who, which, that) is used for both singular and plural, subject and object. Like its English equivalents, som can be left out if it is not the subject of the relative clause:
- Damen som vil kjøpe huset, er nettopp kommet
(the lady who wants to buy the house has just arrived) - Vi trenger noen (som) vi kan stole på
(we need someone (who) we can trust) - Jeg har kjøpt bøkene (som) du bad om.
( bought the books (that) you asked for)
As the second and third examples above show, a preposition (such as på, om) can be stranded at the end of the relative clause, as can also be done in informal English (but not in most other European languages).
The genitive form of the relative pronoun is hvis, but is used mainly in formal written Norwegian:
- Mannen hvis bil var blitt stjålet, meldte tyveriet til politiet
(the man whose car whose stolen reported the theft to the police) - less formal version: Mannen som bilen var blitt stjålet fra …
som can also be used after another pronoun:
- Den som gjorde det, må betale for det.
(whoever did it must pay for it) - Det (som) du sa, var sant
(what you said was true) - Hva som enn hender
(whatever happens)
More about comparisons
‘as … as’ = like … som / likså … som / så …. som:
- Disse veiene er ikke så bratte som veiene på Vestlandet
(these roads aren’t as steep as the roads in West Norway) - kom og besøk meg så ofte (som) du kan
(come and see me as often as you can)
The comparative can be used (as in German) to mean rather / somewhat -ish.
- en yngre dame (a youngish lady)
- i lengre tid (for quite a long time)
- et mindre uhell ( a minor accident)
- en større sum penger (a considerable sum of money)
The superlative can also be used in a similar way:
- med den største fornøyelse (with the greatest of pleasure)
- hans minstre ønske (his slightest wish)
- i høyeste grad (to the highest degree)
- i den beste hensikt (from the best of motives) [hensikt = German Hinsicht?]
slik en = such a
Co-ordinating conjunctions
Examples:
- gutt og pike (boy and girl)
- både han og hun (both he and she)
- enten den store eller den lille (either the big one or the small one)
- verken for langsamt eller for fort (neither too slowly nor too fast)
- fattig, men stolt (poor but proud)
- Jeg gikk ikke, for jeg var forkjølet. (I didn’t go because I had a cold.)
Some of the other words in this chapter
Nouns (like English or German): entredøren (front door); reportasjen (the report); bankrøveriet (bank robbery); langrenn (cross-country skiing); utfor(renn) (downhill (skiing); kysten (the coast); kredittkortet (the credit card); lettheten (the ease); resesjekken (the traveller’s cheque); reisebyrået (the travel agency); opplysningene (plural: the information); freden (the peace); roen (the peace); eplekaken (apple tart)
Other nouns: fjelltoppene (mountain tops); lyden / ståket (the noise); avisegutten (the paper boy); morgenavisen (morning paper); gjeredt (the fence); mistanken (the suspicion); badstuen (the sauna); svømmebassenget (the swimming pool); innbydelsen (the invitation);
Verbs: bli med (join); heve (cash); lure (wonder); gjøre noen innkjøpp (do some shopping); stjele (stjal, stjålet, steal); ligge (la, liggeet, be situated); godta (accept); gi utsikt over (overlook); vende mot (face); erte (tease) ha lyst (til) (would love to); tilgi (-gav, -gitt, forgive); hente (pick up); passe på som en smed (keep a close watch on, lit. watch like a blacksmith);
Adjectives: overflødig (superfluous); flink (clever); middelaldrende (middle-aged); pent / fint (nice); vidunderlig (wonderful); nydelig (delicious); deilig (lovely)
Other words: da (then); nokså / ganske (quite); langs (along); lette/ gjeren (readily); etterpå (afterwords); derfra (from there); ikke … for (not … until) ; moro (fun); tidsnok (in time);
Phrases: i morges (this morning); om fem minutter (in 5 minutes); like ved siden av (just next to); fred og ro (war and peace); akkurat nå (just now); i en fart (in a hurry); ikke noe å takke for (don’t mention it, nothing to thank for)