Dialogue - Norwegian

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Vocabulary

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matbutikk supermarket, grocery store
butikkmedarbeider shop employee
å håndtere to handle
å søke to apply, to look for, to search for
serviceinnstilt service-oriented
å rekke to catch
gjerne gladly, with pleasure, please
helst preferably
å prøvejobbe to trial work
erfaring experience

Lesson Notes

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Lesson Focus

 

The Focus Of This Lesson Is Discussing Experience in An Elaborate Way
Hei. Jeg er Gunnar. Har du noen erfaring med å jobbe i matbutikk?

"Hi. I'm Gunnar. Do you have any experience with working in a grocery store?"

 


 

 

1. Past tense and present perfect

 


 

How to use and form the present perfect tense

We use the present perfect tense to talk about actions that have happened at an unspecified time in the past. For example, we can use this tense with general time phrases such as "before," "previously," "once," and "already." When we use the present perfect tense, the importance lies on the consequence and not when something happened.

For example: Det har regnet meaning "It has rained." The importance lies in the consequence, which, in this case, would be that it is still wet outside because it rained.

Let's see an example from the dialogue. Anne says Jeg har jobbet i en klesbutikk tidligere ("I have worked in a clothing store before") to explain that she has experience of working in a clothing store.

It is also used to talk about changes that have happened over a period of time. For example, Du har fått langt hår meaning "Your hair has gotten long."

The verb should be in the past participle form.

[subject] + har + [past participle]

 

Infinitive

English

Present Perfect

Example (Norwegian)

Example

å gå

"to walk"

har gått

Jeg har gått til parken før.

"I have walked to the park before."

å spise

"to eat"

har spist

Jeg har spist sushi.

"I have eaten sushi."

å sove

"to sleep"

har sovet

Han har sovet på det hotellet mange ganger.

"He has slept at that hotel many times."

å studere

"to study"

har studert

Hun har studert i fem år.

"She has studied for five years."

å løpe

"to run"

har løpt

Jeg har løpt maraton tre ganger

"I have run marathons three times."

å være

"to be"

har vært

Jeg har vært i servicebransjen siden jeg var 20.

"I have been in the service industry since I was 20."

å kjøpe

"to buy"

har kjøpt

Vi har allerede kjøpt et nytt hus.

"We have already bought a new house."

å jobbe

"to work"

har jobbet

Han har jobbet for det firmaet i mange år.

"He has worked for that company for many years."

 

Present perfect vs past tense

Let's compare now the present perfect with the past tense.

If an event occurred before now and is also complete, we use the simple past form of the verb. We often use the simple past tense with specified time expressions such as "an hour ago," "yesterday," "last week" and "last year."

We use the present perfect form to talk about situations that began in the past and continue to the present, as well as for recently completed actions. The focus is on the situation or consequence of the situation, not when it happened.

Let's have a look at some examples.

Simple past

  1. Det snødde forrige uke.
    "It snowed last week."

In this example we see that it snowed last week, and the action of "snowing" is complete. For all we know, there could be no snow left at all.

 

Present perfect

  1. Det har snødd tidligere.
    "It has snowed earlier."

In this example we see that it has snowed earlier and the consequence is most likely that there's snow outside.

  1. Det har snødd i mange timer.
    "It has snowed for many hours."

This is an example of an ongoing situation, it has snowed and it's still snowing.

 

2. Nominalization of Verbs


 

Nominalization is when a verb is modified into a noun. In Norwegian, nominalizations are often technical concepts and are used to express oneself more precisely. Also, when we use nominalizations we sound more formal.

In the dialogue Gunnar used the noun erfaring meaning "experience." This word comes from the verb å erfare ("to experience.")

The suffixes -ing and -ning are often added to the end of the verb to change it into a noun.

-ing often indicates the verb action, and -ning often indicates the result of the verb action. Usually -ing is used the most, because -ning can't be used on verbs that end in -ere, like å studere meaning "to study." The noun of this verb can only be studering "studying." -ning can't be used on verbs that end on -re, -rre,-ne and stress vowels. Therefore -ing is often preferred.

Let's have a look at the difference between -ing and -ning.

å bygge ("to build/construct")

bygging ("construction"): This is the action of building something.

bygning ("building"): This is the result of the action, therefore a building.

We can also use the suffix -sjon to indicate a result of an action, just like -ning.

Let's take the verb å motivere meaning "to motivate." The noun will be motivasjon meaning "motivation." Motivering ("motivation"), on the other hand, is the action "to motivate."

You might also have seen nouns that end with the suffix -else. The suffixes -else and -ing can often both be used, but -else sounds more formal and is often used in written form.

Let's take å rette meaning "to correct." We can say both retting and rettelse meaning "correction."

Finally, we also have something called zero-derivation, a nominalization which we don't need a suffix. -ing and zero-derivation can both be used, but zero-derivation is the noun that is often used in compound nouns and newspapers.

Let's take the verb å vaske meaning "to wash." Vasking ("washing") will be the action of "to wash." Vask ("wash") can be used as it is, or be used as a compound word such as klesvask meaning "washing of clothes."

 

Examples from the dialogue:

  1. Nei, men jeg har jobbet i en klesbutikk tidligere, så jeg er serviceinnstilt og kan håndtere stress godt.
    "No, but I've worked in a clothing store before, so I'm service-oriented and can handle stress well."
  2. Har du noen erfaring med å jobbe i matbutikk?
    "Do you have any experience with working in a grocery store?"

 

Sample Sentences


 

  1. Det har regnet.
    "It has rained."
  2. Det har snødd i mange timer.
    "It has snowed for many hours."
  3. Du har fått langt hår.
    "Your hair has gotten long."

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

å søke ("to apply," "to look for," "to search for")

Å søke literally means "to search," "to look" or "to seek." It can also mean "to apply for."

You use å søke when you are looking for something, searching for something, or applying for a job. Å søke jobb literally means "to search for work," but is used more as "to apply for a job" or "to seek employment."

You can use this verb both for abstract and actual things and you often use it when you search for something on the Internet. For example, Jeg søkte på Google. which means "I searched on Google."

When the word is used as "to search" or "to look," in everyday life it can sound a bit formal. In that case, you can use å lete instead. For example, Jeg leter etter deg, which means, "I am looking for you."

For example:

  1. Vi søker etter en organisert og effektiv person.
    "We're searching for an organized and effective person."

 

høres bra ut ("sounds good")

å høre means "to sound," bra means "good" and ut means "out."

You use høres bra ut when you hear an idea that sounds good.

As it means "the idea sounds good," you can also use å virke bra/god ("to seem good"). For example, Det virker som en god idé ("That seems like a good idea.").

For example:

  1. Jeg synes Per sitt forslag høres bra ut.
    "I think Per's suggestion sounds good."

 

helst ikke ("rather not")

Helst is an adverb and means "preferably." Ikke means "not." Put together they mean "rather not."

You use this expression when you would prefer to not do something. It doesn't mean that you can't do it, just that you don't really want to.

You can answer a yes or no question with helst ikke, if you want to make your negation less strong.

For example:

  1. Jeg vil helst ikke spise kokte poteter hver dag.
    "I would rather not eat boiled potatoes every day."

 

Cultural Insights

Part-Time Jobs in Norway

 


 

In Norway many students have part-time jobs. Common jobs are in restaurants or supermarkets. If you are under the age of 13, you need a written permission from your parents in order to work. A person who is over the age of 15 can work up to 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, but people under 18 are not allowed to work between 11 p.m and 6 a.m. Norway has strict laws that protect working youth. The salary is also pretty high for part-time jobs, even though the salary you get depends on your age and work place. A person over 16 years old working in a store might get around 110NOK an hour while a 18 year old might get 148 NOK an hour. If you don't earn more than 50 000 NOK a year, you don't have to pay taxes.

9,5 NOK is about 1 Euro.

*Based on 2015 data

Useful expression:

  1. kroner i timen
    "crowns per hour"

Lesson Transcript

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INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome to NorwegianClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 1 - A Norwegian Job Interview. Eric Here.
Mai: Hei, I'm Mai.
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to discuss work experience in an elaborate way. The conversation takes place at a grocery store.
Mai: It's between Anne and Gunnar.
Eric: The speakers are strangers, and they will use both formal and informal Norwegian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Anne: Hei, jeg heter Anne og jeg søker på jobben som butikkmedarbeider.
Gunnar: Hei. Jeg er Gunnar. Har du noen erfaring med å jobbe i matbutikk?
Anne: Nei, men jeg har jobbet i en klesbutikk tidligere, så jeg er serviceinnstilt og kan håndtere stress godt.
Gunnar: Det høres bra ut. Hvilke dager kan du jobbe på?
Anne: Jeg kan jobbe alle dager, men helst ikke sene kvelder siden jeg må rekke bussen hjem.
Gunnar: Det er greit. Kan du komme og prøvejobbe i morgen klokka 10?
Anne: Ja, gjerne det. Vi sees i morgen.
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Anne: Hi, my name is Anne and I'm applying for the job as a shop employee.
Gunnar: Hi. I'm Gunnar. Do you have any experience with working in a grocery store?
Anne: No, but I've worked in a clothing store before, so I'm service-oriented and can handle stress well.
Gunnar: That sounds good. Which days can you work on?
Anne: I can work all days, but preferably not late nights since I have to catch the bus home.
Gunnar: That's okay. Can you come and do a work trial tomorrow at 10 o'clock?
Anne: Yes, please. See you tomorrow.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: Mai, is it common for Norwegian students to get part-time jobs?
Mai: Yes, in Norway many students have part-time jobs.
Eric: What kinds of jobs are common?
Mai: The most common jobs are in restaurants or supermarkets.
Eric: Are there any limitations on student work?
Mai: Well, if you are under the age of 13, you need written permission from your parents to work. A person who is over the age of 15 can work up to 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, but people under 18 are not allowed to work between 11 p.m and 6 a.m.
Eric: It seems like Norway has strict laws that protect working youth.
Mai: That’s true, the salary is also pretty high for part-time jobs, even though it depends on your age and work place. The average is between 110 and 150 crowns per hour.
Eric: One euro is about 9.5 Norwegian crowns. What’s the Norwegian for “crowns per hour”?
Mai: kroner i timen
Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Mai: butikkmedarbeider [natural native speed]
Eric: shop employee
Mai: butikkmedarbeider[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: butikkmedarbeider [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: matbutikk [natural native speed]
Eric: supermarket, grocery store
Mai: matbutikk[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: matbutikk [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: å håndtere [natural native speed]
Eric: to handle
Mai: å håndtere[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: å håndtere [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: serviceinnstilt [natural native speed]
Eric: service-oriented
Mai: serviceinnstilt[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: serviceinnstilt [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: å søke [natural native speed]
Eric: to apply, to look for, to search for
Mai: å søke[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: å søke [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: helst [natural native speed]
Eric: preferably
Mai: helst[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: helst [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: å rekke [natural native speed]
Eric: to catch
Mai: å rekke[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: å rekke [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: å prøvejobbe [natural native speed]
Eric: to trial work
Mai: å prøvejobbe[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: å prøvejobbe [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: gjerne [natural native speed]
Eric: gladly, with pleasure, please
Mai: gjerne[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: gjerne [natural native speed]
Eric: And last..
Mai: erfaring [natural native speed]
Eric: experience
Mai: erfaring[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: erfaring [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is..
Mai: å søke
Eric: meaning "to apply,” “to look for,” “to search for"
Mai: You use å søke when you are looking for something, searching for something, or applying for a job. Å søke jobb literally means "to search for work", but is used more as "to apply for a job" or "to seek employment".
Eric: Can you use this verb both for abstract and actual things?
Mai: Yes, you can can, for example you often use it when you search for something on the internet.
Eric: Can you give us an example using this word?
Mai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Vi søker etter en organisert og effektiv person.
Eric: ..which means "We're searching for an organized and effective person."
Eric: When the word is used as "to search" or "to look," in everyday life it can sound a bit formal.
Mai: Right, so in that case, you can use å lete instead. For example, Jeg leter etter deg, which means, "I am looking for you."
Eric: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Mai: høres bra ut
Eric: meaning "sounds good"
Mai: å høre means "to sound", bra means "good" and ut means "out".
Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Mai: For example, you can say.. Jeg synes Per sitt forslag høres bra ut.
Eric: .. which means "I think Per's suggestion sounds good."
Mai: You can also use å virke bra or å virke god
Eric: which both mean “to seem good”
Eric: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Mai: helst ikke
Eric: meaning "rather not"
Mai: Helst is an adverb and means "preferably." Ikke means "not."
Eric: You use this expression when you would prefer to not do something.
Mai: It doesn't mean that you can't do it, just that you don't really want to.
Eric: Using this expression, you can answer a yes or no question, if you want to make your negation less strong. Mai, can you give us an example using this word?
Mai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Jeg vil helst ikke spise kokte poteter hver dag.
Eric: .. which means "I would rather not eat boiled potatoes every day." Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about your work experience in an elaborate way.
Mai: You will learn past tense and present perfect.
Eric: Let’s start by saying how to use and form the present perfect tense.
Mai: We use the present perfect tense to talk about actions that have happened at an unspecified time in the past. For example, you can use this tense with general time phrases such as "before," "previously," "once," and "already."
Eric: Like in English, when we use the present perfect tense, the emphasis lies on the consequence and not when something happened. Can you give us an example?
Mai: Det har regnet
Eric: meaning “It has rained.” Here the importance lies in the consequence, which, in this case, would be that it is still wet outside because it rained. Is there an example of this in the dialogue?
Mai: Yes, when Anne says Jeg har jobbet i en klesbutikk tidligere
Eric: meaning "I have worked in a clothing store before"
Mai: This explains that she has experience working in a clothing store.
Eric: The present perfect is also used to talk about changes that have happened over a period of time.
Mai: Right, for example, Du har fått langt hår
Eric: meaning "Your hair has gotten long." Now, can we see how to practically form a verb in the present perfect?
Mai: All you have to do is to state the subject, then har, and finally the main verb in the past participle.
Eric: Let’s give some examples. Let’s consider the verb “to walk”
Mai: in Norwegian that is å gå and the present perfect is har gått, for example you can say Jeg har gått til parken før.
Eric: “I have walked to the park before.” Now let’s consider the verb, “to study”
Mai: in Norwegian that is å studere and the present perfect is har studert, for example you can say Hun har studert i fem år.
Eric: “She has studied for five years.” Let’s also take a look at the verb “to be”
Mai: in Norwegian that is å være, and the present perfect is har vært. For example, you can say Jeg har vært i servicebransjen siden jeg var 20.
Eric: “I have been in the service industry since I was 20.” Ok now, let’s compare the present perfect with the past tense.
Mai: If an event occurred before now and is also complete, we use the simple past form of the verb.
Eric: Is it like in English where we often use the simple past tense with specific time expressions such as “an hour ago” and “yesterday?”
Mai: Yes, that’s correct. For example, Det snødde forrige uke.
Eric: “It snowed last week.”
Mai: On the other hand, we use the present perfect form to talk about situations that began in the past and continue to the present, as well as for recently completed actions.
Eric: So the focus is on the situation or consequence of the situation, not when it happened.
Mai: For example, Det har snødd tidligere.
Eric: meaning “It snowed earlier.” Ok, now let’s move on to the next topic, the nominalization of verbs.
Mai: Nominalization is when a verb is modified into a noun.
Eric: In Norwegian, nominalizations are often technical concepts and are used to express oneself more precisely, which can be really useful at a job interview.
Mai: And when we use nominalizations, we sound more formal. In the dialogue, Gunnar used the noun erfaring meaning “experience.” This word comes from the verb å erfare meaning “to experience.”
Eric: So what is the rule for verb nominalization?
Mai: The suffixes -ing and -ning are often added to the end of the verb to change it into a noun. -ing often indicates the verb action, and -ning often indicates the result of the verb action, also -ning can’t be used on verbs that end in -ere, like å studere.
Eric: Let’s see an example of verbs that can be nominalized in both ways.
Mai: For example å bygge
Eric: which means “to build,” or “to construct”
Mai: can become bygging
Eric: “construction,” meaning the action of building something.
Mai: or bygning
Eric: “building,” meaning the result of the action, therefore “a building.”
Mai: You can also use the suffix -sjon to indicate a result of an action, just like -ning. For example, starting from the verb å motivere, you can have both motivasjon and motivering.
Eric: Both meaning “motivation”
Mai: Sometimes, instead of -ing, you might also have seen nouns that end with the suffix -else, which is very formal. For example we can say both retting and rettelse
Eric: meaning “correction.”
Mai: Finally, we also have the zero-derivation, a nominalization for which we don’t need a suffix.
Eric: Zero-derivation is the noun that is often used in compound nouns and newspapers.
Mai: Let’s take the verb å vaske meaning “to wash.” You can nominalize it either using the suffix -ing, as in Vasking, or without suffixes, vask. We can use vask in compound words, such as klesvask.
Eric: meaning “washing of clothes,” which is the laundry.

Outro

Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time!
Mai: Ha det bra!