Today I worked through chapter 9 of Norwegian in three months, covering:
- more about conjunctions
- more about word order
- conditional
- that clauses
- other words
More about conjunctions
Conjunctions—time:
da (when)
når (when)
idet (As)
mens (while)
før (before)
etterat (after)
siden (since)
inntil (until)
Da expresses what happen once in the past (den gang: da). Når expresses what usually happens, what used to happen or what is going to happen (hver gang: når).
- Da vi kom hjem, spiste vi middag
(when we came home, we had dinner) - Når hun kom på besøk, hadde hun alltid meg seg noen godter til barna
(whenever she came to see us, she always brought some sweets for the children) - Når du kommer frem, må du sende meg et kort.
(when you arrive, you must send me a card)
Conjunctions—comparison
så (… som) (as…. as
som om (as if)
enn (than)
jo …desto / jo … jo
(the more… the more)
- De kom så snart (som) de kunne
(they came as fast as they could) - Han lot som om ingenting hadde hendt
(he acted as if nothing had happened) - Jo før, jo bedre (the sooner the better)
Conjunctions—other
skjønt / enda (although)
selv om (even if)
fordi (because)
ettersom (as [cause])
siden (since [cause])
om (whether)
hvis/dersom (if)
hvis ikke (if not)
me mindre (unless)
for at (in order to)
så at/ slik at (with the result that)
Hun visste ikke om det ville bli mulig for henne å komme
(she didn’t know whether it would be possible for her to come)
More about word order
The verb is inverted with (comes before) the subject in main clauses preceded by subordinate clauses, and after direct speech and quoted statements:
- Enda han hadde hodepine, fortsatte han å arbeide
(although he had a headache, he carried on working) - ‘Hold dig fast i pelsen min’, sa han
‘(hold on to my fur’, he said) - det er et eventyr, forstår du
(it’s a fairy tale, you see)
When inversion occurs in compound tenses and modals, the subject comes after the auxiliary and before the main verb.
- Da vi kom hjem, hadde han spist middag
(when we came home, he had had dinner) - Når vi kommer hjem, vil vi spise middag)
(when we come home, we’ll have dinner)
Conditional tense
The conditional is formed with skulle or ville plus the infinitive of the main verb. (Skulle and ville are both the infinitive and the imperfect of these two auxiliaries)
- Hvis hun ikke kunne komme, skulle (or ville) hun ringe meg
(if she couldn’t come, she would ring me)
The conditional may express politeness:
Jeg ville gjerne ha litt te
(I’d like some tea)
‘That’ clauses
As in English, ‘that clauses are formed with or without at (that):
- Jeg visste ikke (at) du var kommet
- De fortalte oss at det ikke var sant
(they told us it wasn’t true)
Some of the other words in this chapter
Nouns (like English or German): uhellet (the accident); betingelsene (terms, conditions); politiet (the police)
Other nouns: varebil (van); drosjen (the taxi); tilbudet (the proposal); levemåten (the way of life); helgen (the weekend); helsen (the health); legen (the doctor)
verbs (like in English or German): overraske (surprise); underrette (inform = German unterrichten) (b)stjele (-stjal, stjålet, steal); tilkalle (call); ønske (wish); støtte (support)
Other verbs: gå galt (go wrong); gå glipp av (miss); trenge (need); leie (hire); angre (regret); synes (think); bli håndtert (be handled); nå (-dde, -dd, reach); besvare (answer); stille spørsmal (ask questions); mye / atskillig (a lot); ligne (be like); være i stand til (be able to); ta motet fra (discourage)
Adjectives: lett (easy); lykkelig / glad (happy); redd (for) (afraid of); trett (tired); umaken verdt (worth); betydelig (considerable); uoppdaget (unexplored)
Phrases: (fra venstre (from the left); dette hendte meg (that happened to me); på forhånd (beforehand); jeg føler meg ikke bra (I don’t feel well); i det siste (lately); vi vile nødig (we’d rather not); til utlandet (abroad); med en gang (at once); det er ingen vits i (there’s no point in); til en rimelig pris (at a fair price)
Prepositions with place names:
- i: Norwegian coastal towns; Norwegian places ending in -dal, -elv, -vik; most Norwegian districts and regions; most foreign places
- på: most Norwegian inland towns and small Norwegian towns; foreign islands