Learn how to ask for the price of something
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Yura : Hi and welcome back to NorwegianClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 12 - A Norwegian Shopping Trip. I’m Yura. |
| Filip : Hei, and I’m Filip. In this lesson you’ll learn about shopping in Norway. |
| Yura : And by shopping, we mean any kind of shopping. |
| Filip : That’s right. You’ll learn to ask the price of stuff and the correct phrases to use for when you want to buy something. |
| Yura : In the dialogue this time, we’ll meet Mark again as he is out looking at some books in a book shop. He sees one he likes and wants to know the price. |
| Filip : The language used is is slightly formal. Let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Mark : Hvor mye koster denne boken? |
| Shop staff : Den koster 250 kroner. |
| Mark : Det var billig. |
| Shop staff : Ja, den er på tilbud. Akkurat nå er den til halv pris. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mark : Hvor mye koster denne boken? |
| Shop staff : Den koster 250 kroner. |
| Mark : Det var billig. |
| Shop staff : Ja, den er på tilbud. Akkurat nå er den til halv pris. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Mark : Hvor mye koster denne boken? |
| Yura : How much is this book? |
| Shop staff : Den koster 250 kroner. |
| Yura : It's 250 kroner. |
| Mark : Det var billig. |
| Yura : That's cheap. |
| Shop staff : Ja, den er på tilbud. Akkurat nå er den til halv pris. |
| Yura : Yes, it's on sale right now. It's currently half price. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yura : You know Filip? I’m wondering... Have you ever tried bartering in Norway? |
| Filip : No, that sounds strange. Did you ever try during your studies when you were there? |
| Yura : I did, because of course I wasn’t exactly rich. I tried bartering at a local shop once and I got a cheaper price. |
| Filip : Really? Wow! I remember when growing up, bartering was still quite common in some places, but recently it’s almost frowned upon. |
| Yura : Hmmm, yeah, I could understand that bartering at places like H&M or Zara wouldn’t necessarily work. |
| Filip : Or at the supermarket. |
| Yura : True, but at local shops it should be fine right? |
| Filip : I don’t see why not. If I’m going to barter any place, though, it would be on the internet. Places like finn.no and qxl.no are places where bartering is quite common. |
| Yura : They are a market place and an auction site respectively, aren’t they? |
| Filip : Yes, finn.no is a market place where people trade just about anything. Putting in an ad there isn’t that expensive. And prices are usually only tentative. I have even sold and bought a few things there. |
| Yura : Interesting. I’ll remember to try that! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Yura : Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Filip : koste [natural native speed] |
| Yura : to cost |
| Filip : koste [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : koste [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : boken [natural native speed] |
| Yura : the book |
| Filip : boken [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : boken [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : kroner [natural native speed] |
| Yura : Norwegian kroner (currency) |
| Filip : kroner [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : kroner [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : billig [natural native speed] |
| Yura : cheap |
| Filip : billig [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : billig [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : tilbud [natural native speed] |
| Yura : on sale, discounted |
| Filip : tilbud [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : tilbud [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : akkurat [natural native speed] |
| Yura : exactly |
| Filip : akkurat [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : akkurat [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : nå [natural native speed] |
| Yura : now |
| Filip : nå [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : nå [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : pris [natural native speed] |
| Yura : price |
| Filip : pris [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : pris [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Yura : Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Filip : The first word/phrase we’ll look at is akkurat. |
| Yura : I have to admit, this word has always confused me a bit. |
| Filip : Oh? It’s quite simple. It means "exactly". |
| Yura : Yeah, but there is also the meaning of “Correct” or “right about” |
| Filip : True, as in the dialogue, akkurat is combined with nå to make up “at this moment” |
| Yura : I see, it might a bit confusing at first. But Akkurat can have some intricate usages. |
| Filip : Yeah it’s a bit cryptic in the dialogue. Because it doesn’t mean “Exactly now,” more like “right now”. But again in the dialogue the meaning would be closer to “At this moment”. |
| Yura : Another thing I think we should explain further is the sentence that comes after it. |
| Filip : Akkurat nå er den halv pris? |
| Yura : Yes, that one. |
| Filip : I believe this is pretty straight forward though. You could say it’s “At this moment, it’s half price.” Because it’s on sale, right. |
| Yura : Great. Well, let’s get to the grammar point so we can get the rest of the shopping conversation! |
| Filip : Alright! |
Lesson focus |
| Yura : This lesson's grammar point is how to ask for the price and how to buy something. |
| Filip : It’s a pretty straightforward lesson, so just follow along and you’ll have it down in no time. |
| Yura : So Filip, to ask for the price what is the best practice? |
| Filip : Well, point at or bring whatever it is you want to buy to the shopkeeper and say - Hvor mye koster denne? |
| Yura : And that’s all? Basically the sentence translates as “How much is this?” |
| Filip : Exactly. Now for a small treat, as you might have remembered from last lesson, you could substitute Hvor mye with hva er and it would have the same meaning. |
| Yura : Sure! |
| Filip : If you substitute Hvor mye with simply hva you would get the same effect. It is very practical for rapid fire questions. All together the sentence would sound like - Hva koster denne? |
| Yura : Hmm interesting. Now what would the shopkeeper usually reply to a question like this? |
| Filip : Well usually you would get a number only. Norwegians like to be short and concise, remember? |
| Yura : (laughs) True. I've heard them add a den er or den koster sometimes too. |
| Filip : Yes, that’s also true. But it doesn’t happen too often. They might also say what the shopkeeper said in the dialogue - Den er på tilbud. |
| Yura : Which means “It’s on sale.” Everything's on sale in Norway always, but it doesn’t necessarily become any cheaper for us foreigners. |
| Filip : It’s not cheap for us either I tell you! Even the book Mark is buying for 250 NOK is pretty expensive considering it’s on sale for half the price! |
| Yura : Alright so say Mark wanted to buy the book. What would he say? |
| Filip : He would say something like - Jeg tar denne. |
| Yura : Which means “I’ll take this”. Listen to Filip and repeat again. |
| Filip : Jeg tar denne. [pause] |
| Yura : I see. What if you want to buy several amounts of one item? |
| Filip : Then you would say something like Kan jeg få fire boller? |
| Yura : I see you put some substitutes in here. Ok, so basically you are saying... |
| Filip Kan jeg få... |
| Yura ...then a number and then the item in singular or plural? Like now you said “Could I please have four buns?” |
| Filip : Exactly. |
| Yura : Great let’s repeat them again. What do you say when you want to know the price? |
| Filip : hvor mye koster bollene? |
| Yura : 12 kroner - pause- and then when you want the buns? |
| Filip : Kan jeg få fire boller? |
| Yura : "Could I have four buns?" Great! |
| (farewell) |
| Filip : Well that’s it for this lesson. Please be sure to read the lesson notes while listening as well, because they really help you learn faster. |
| Yura : Hope to see you again in the next lesson. |
| Filip : Sees snart! |
| Yura : Bye everyone! |
Comments
Hide