Learn about basic sentence structure
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yura:Hello, I’m Yura. |
| Filip:Hi and I’m Filip. |
| Yura:...and welcome back to NorwegianClass101.com's Absolute Beginner Series. This is lesson 6 - First Encounters in Norway |
| Filip:Velkommen tilbake! Welcome back! In this lesson, we will have our two main characters meet for the first time. You’re going to learn all about greetings, and more, including basic Norwegian sentence structure. |
| Yura:It's about time too, since we have gone through so much at the airport already! |
| Filip:Yes, it’s taken some time, but that’s how it normally is. In this lesson we’ll have Mark again and he is now meeting Espen. |
| Yura:That’s right. Mark is a businessman from America, in Norway on holiday. He will be greeted by Espen, an employee from a sister branch of Mark's company. They have spoken before, but only online. |
| Filip:Yes, so they don’t know each other that well, but Espen agreed to meet Mark and show him around. |
| Yura:This is a good scenario, since many people who go abroad already have contacts in that country to meet them. |
| Filip:True, and what better way to start, than to be able to greet that person in his or her native tongue? |
| Yura:That's right, let’s listen to the conversation |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Mark:Hei, du må være Espen? Jeg er Mark. |
| Espen:Hei, det stemmer. Espen, hyggelig å møte deg. |
| Mark:I like måte. |
| Espen:La meg hjelpe deg. |
| (helps Mark with his luggage) |
| Mark:Takk skal du ha. |
| English Host: :Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mark:Hei, du må være Espen? Jeg er Mark. |
| Espen:Hei, det stemmer. Espen, hyggelig å møte deg. |
| Mark:I like måte. |
| Espen:La meg hjelpe deg. |
| (helps Mark with his luggage) |
| Mark:Takk skal du ha. |
| English Host: :Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Mark:Hei, du må være Espen? Jeg er Mark. |
| Yura:Hello, you must be Espen? I'm Mark. |
| Espen:Hei, det stemmer. Espen, hyggelig å møte deg. |
| Yura:Hello, that’s right. I'm Espen, nice to meet you. |
| Mark:I like måte. |
| Yura:Nice to meet you too. (Literally, "Likewise".) |
| Espen:La meg hjelpe deg. |
| Yura:Let me help you. |
| (helps Mark with his luggage) |
| Mark:Takk skal du ha. |
| Yura:Thank you. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yura:So Filip, I heard that you greet strangers on the street in Norway, is that true? |
| Filip:Well, saying it like that makes it sound a bit weird, but essentially yes. Although there are certain norms that go along with it. |
| Yura:Oh really, like what? |
| Filip:Well, first of all, you don’t say “hi” to everyone you meet. |
| Yura:(laughs), no, that would be strange. |
| Filip:It’s more the case where you and the stranger are the only people around, or if the stranger is an old person, or an old couple. |
| Yura:Ah, well that’s not so strange. You’ll see that in other countries, not just Norway. |
| Filip:True, just like talking about the weather. |
| Yura:Yes, but Norwegian are especially fond of the weather I think. |
| Filip:Yeah, weather or temperatures are often commented on, since they are very natural subjects, and both individuals can relate to it. |
| Yura:That’s it listeners, want to learn Norwegian? Learn to make small talk about the weather. |
| Filip:Actually, we will teach you that later on, so just keep listening! |
| Yura: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:å måtte (må) [natural native speed] |
| Yura:to have to (must) |
| Filip:å måtte (må) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip:å måtte (må) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip:å stemme (stemmer) [natural native speed] |
| Yura:to be correct (correct) |
| Filip:å stemme (stemmer) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip:å stemme (stemmer) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip:å møte [natural native speed] |
| Yura:meet |
| Filip:å møte [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip:å møte [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip:i [natural native speed] |
| Yura:in, to |
| Filip:i [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip:i [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip:like [natural native speed] |
| Yura:same |
| Filip:like [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip:like [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip:måte [natural native speed] |
| Yura:way |
| Filip:måte [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip:måte [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip:å hjelpe [natural native speed] |
| Yura:to help |
| Filip:å hjelpe [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip:å hjelpe [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip:å la [natural native speed] |
| Yura:to let |
| Filip:å la [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip:å la [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Yura:Let's take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from the dialogue. Ok, so some of the words don't make too much sense alone do they? |
| Filip:No they don’t, I bet our listeners heard it too - I, like, and måte. Apart they can be used in any type of sentences, but together, I like måte, means “The same” or “you too.” |
| Yura:So it’s used to express similar feelings, like “Nice to meet you - nice to meet you too?” |
| Filip:Correct. It’s a phrase used a lot by Norwegians. |
| Yura:Ok. could you give us some examples of this? |
| Filip:Sure, here's a small dialogue |
| Filip:Det er fint å se deg! |
| Yura:"It’s nice to see you!" |
| Filip:I like måte! |
| Yura:"Nice to see you too!" |
| Yura:So it’s a short and easy way of replying that you have the same feelings. |
| Filip:Exactly. It could be used in virtually any situation where you aim to say “Thanks, the same!” Although that phrase might not be as popular with English speakers.. |
| Yura:Hmmm, probably not. Remember though, Norwegians love it! |
Lesson focus |
| Yura:So, now it's time for our grammar, which is |
| Filip:Basic sentence structure in Norwegian. |
| Yura:That sounds a bit advanced. |
| Filip:Well, grammar is never easy, but it's very necessary to learn, especially if you plan to make your own sentences while speaking... Not everything can be learnt as set phrases. |
| Yura:That's true, so tell us a bit about it B. |
| Filip:Sure. So, Norwegian is a SVO language. |
| Yura:And that means? |
| Filip:It means the majority of our sentences are built by using a subject, then a verb, and ending it with an object. |
| Yura:I see, that doesn't sound too bad. Can you give us an example? |
| Filip:Sure, I’ll use Mark as an example; Jeg er Mark. Here jeg, meaning “I,” is the Subject. er, meaning “is,” is the verb, and Mark, the name, is the object of this sentence. |
| Yura:I see, but you mentioned that the majority of the sentences are SVO sentences, so what are the others? |
| Filip:The others would then be VSO sentences. That means - verb, subject and again object last. |
| Yura:Ok. Do we have any examples of this in the dialogue? |
| Filip:Yes we do. However let's first look at the sentence er du Kristian, meaning “are you Kristian?” from lesson 4 – that is a VSO sentence. Ermeaning “are” is the verb here, du which means “you” is the subject, and lastly the name Kristian is the object in this sentence. |
| Yura:Yes, now, the sentence in this lesson was - |
| Filip:La meg hjelpe deg, "Let me help you." |
| Yura:That’s right, Espen says this when he helps Mark with his luggage! |
| Filip:Yes. In this sentence, la is the verb, meaning “let” as in “to let someone.” Next is meg, “me” in English, which is the subject, and then lastly degmeaning “you,” which is the object. |
| Yura:What about Hjelpe? |
| Filip:That is another verb added to the sentence, that gives the sentence its meaning. You can add words in between like that, and it is still a VSO sentence. And it’s the same with SVO sentences. |
| Yura:Aha, so even though it was a verb, subject, verb and then object, that does not change the fact that it’s still a VSO sentence? |
| Filip:That’s right. Let me give you an example of adding words to an SVO sentence - Jeg er ikke Mark, which is "I am not Mark." |
| Yura:Exactly, in this sentence you have added the word meaning “not”, expanding the sentence, but still it’s an SVO sentence. |
| Filip:Correct. |
| Yura:Wow, that was a bit advanced, I have to admit. Listeners, you'd better listen to this again and soak it all up! |
| Filip:Well it’s not all that hard. Remember, English is also an SVO language, so direct translations can even sometimes go very smoothly, but the languages do have their differences as well. |
| Yura:No matter, with practice comes mastery! |
| Yura:Well that’s it for lesson 6, hope you learned a lot! And see you again soon, bye everyone! |
| Filip:Thanks for listening. På gjensyn! |
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