Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

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.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to NorwegianClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 8 - What's Wrong with your Norwegian Food? Eric Here.
Mai: Hei, I'm Mai.
Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to give detailed instructions and ask for favors. The conversation takes place at a picnic in the garden of a house.
Mai: It's between Anne and Martin.
Eric: The speakers are friends, so they will use informal Norwegian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Martin: Anne, kunne jeg få en kopp?
Anne: Det står kopper i hylla på venstre side. Du kan ta en derfra.
Martin: Takk. Kan du sende saltet også? Den kyllingen her er litt smakløs.
Anne: Jaha. Jeg synes den smaker godt men...
Martin: Hmm... Dressingen er heller ikke så god...
Anne: Må du klage?
Martin: Unnskyld. Jeg mente ikke å være frekk.
Anne: Forresten, ville du dratt til den butikken der borte og kjøpe noen servietter?
Martin: Ja. Hvordan servietter vil du ha?
Anne: De i blomstrete pakke. De er ganske bortgjemt, så du må kanskje lete litt. Pakningen er mellomstor og i blå nyanse.
Martin: Okei, jeg er tilbake snart.
Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Martin: Anne, could I get a cup?
Anne: There are cups on the shelf on the left side. You can take one from there.
Martin: Thanks. Could you pass me the salt, too? This chicken here is a bit tasteless.
Anne: Aha. I think it tastes good though.
Martin: Hmm... The dressing isn't so good either.
Anne: Do you have to complain?
Martin: Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude.
Anne: By the way, could you go to the store over there and buy some napkins?
Martin: Yes. What kind of napkins do you want?
Anne: Those in the floral package. They are quite hidden, so you might have to search a bit. The package is middle sized and in a blue shade.
Martin: Okay. I'll be back soon.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: What kind of outdoor activities do Norwegian people like to do?
Mai: A lot of these activities are associated with sports and exercise, for example, hiking in the mountains or woods, camping, canoeing, skiing, and sailing. There are many more to add to the list of popular outdoor activities today.
Eric: I’ve heard that a lot of families in Norway have some kind of summer lodge, normally a cabin or cottage in the countryside.
Mai: This is an old tradition in Norway that has been carried on for many years. The typical way to spend a Norwegian summer was and still is to spend at least some time in the countryside, or the archipelago, bathing in the sea and fishing for crabs, as it is easy to reach some beautiful islands or beaches from the center of Oslo.
Eric: What’s the Norwegian word for archipelago?
Mai: skjærgård
Eric: What about winter time, are there any popular outdoor activities for that time of year?
Mai: In the wintertime, ice-skating and skiing are very popular with both adults and young children.
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: smakløs [natural native speed]
Eric: tasteless
Mai: smakløs[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: smakløs [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: å klage [natural native speed]
Eric: to complain
Mai: å klage[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: å klage [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: frekk [natural native speed]
Eric: rude
Mai: frekk[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: frekk [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: forresten [natural native speed]
Eric: by the way
Mai: forresten[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: forresten [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: serviett [natural native speed]
Eric: napkin
Mai: serviett[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: serviett [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: bortgjemt [natural native speed]
Eric: hidden
Mai: bortgjemt[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: bortgjemt [natural native speed]
Eric: Next we have..
Mai: mellomstor [natural native speed]
Eric: middle sized
Mai: mellomstor[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: mellomstor [natural native speed]
Eric: And last...
Mai: nyanse [natural native speed]
Eric: tint, shade, nuance
Mai: nyanse[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Mai: nyanse [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: smakløs
Eric: meaning "tasteless"
Mai: Smakløs consists of the two words smak meaning "taste" and løs meaning "loose," together they mean “tasteless”.
Eric: You can use it whenever something is tasteless, not only food.
Mai: Right, for example you can say For et smakløst hus.
Eric: "What a tasteless house."
Mai: Here is another example All maten han lager er smakløs.
Eric: ..which means "All the food he makes is tasteless." Okay, what's the next word?
Mai: forresten
Eric: meaning "by the way" and you can use it the same way you would use "by the way" in English.
Mai: Remember that in Norwegian, it can also mean "incidentally."
Eric: Can you give us an example using this word?
Mai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Du har ikke forresten sett bilnøklene mine?
Eric: .. which means "You haven't incidentally seen my car keys?" Okay, what's the next word?
Mai: nyanse
Eric: meaning “tint”, “shade,” or literally “nuance." This word is mostly used when talking about colors, often with slight differences.
Mai: For example, Jeg liker best den nyansen der av rosa
Eric: which means "I like that hue of pink the best."
Mai: You can also say Jeg ser ikke forskjell på noen av de nyansene her, jeg.
Eric: .. which means "I can't see the difference in any of the nuances here." Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to give detailed instructions and ask for favors.
Mai: You’ll also learn about modal verbs in questions and adjectives.
Eric: Modal verbs are verbs that describe likelihood, ability, permission, and obligation about something.
Mai: In Norwegian, these are called helping verbs, and they describe how an action occurs or how a state comes to be.
Eric: The modal helping verbs are used together with main verbs and they change the meaning of the main verb.
Mai: For example, you can simply say Jeg spiser.
Eric: meaning “I’m eating.”
Mai: and if you use a modal verb you can also say Jeg kan spise.
Eric: meaning “I can eat.” What are the most common modal verbs?
Mai: Skulle, Kunne, and Ville
Eric: meaning “should,” “can” and “want” respectively. How do they look in a question?
Mai: Just as in questions which start with a verb, modal verb questions begin with the modal verb followed by the subject. Here are some examples from the dialogue - Kunne jeg få en kopp?
Eric: “Could I get a cup?”
Mai: Kan du sende saltet også?
Eric: “Could you pass me the salt too?”
Mai: Må du klage?
Eric: “Do you have to complain?”
Mai: Remember that when you use a modal verb in the past tense you sound more polite, and you would maybe get a nicer answer from a stranger this way. For example, in the dialogue Anne asks politely …ville du dratt til den butikken der borte og kjøpe noen servietter?
Eric: “…could you go to the store over there and buy some napkins?” Ok, let’s now give some tips about giving detailed instructions in Norwegian.
Mai: When describing and giving detailed instruction, adjectives can be used to make sure the other party understands.
Eric: In Norwegian, adjectives change slightly depending on the gender of the noun, and whether it is singular or plural.
Mai: As you know, nouns can be either masculine, feminine, or neuter. The same form of an adjective can be used for both masculine and feminine nouns. A slightly different form of the adjective is used for neuter nouns.
Eric: What about the plural?
Mai: To form the plural, the basic rule is to put an -e at the end of the adjective to make it plural. Nevertheless, there are also exceptions.
Eric: Let’s consider the adjectives from a sentence in the dialogue.
Mai: In the dialogue, Anne gives very detailed instruction about napkins. She says De i blomstrete pakke. De er ganske bortgjemt, så du må kanskje lete litt. Pakningen er mellomstor og i blå nyanse.
Eric: meaning “Those in the floral package. They are quite hidden, so you might have to search a bit. The package is middle sized and in a blue shade.” What are some adjectives in this sentence?
Mai: For example bortgjemt, meaning “hidden,” is an adjective that is made from the verb Å gjemme bort by adding a t at the end. You can do this also with the verb å lese, meaning “to read.” For example, En lest bok.
Eric: meaning “A read book.”
Mai: Another adjective in the sentence is mellomstor, literally meaning “middle big”, but you can translate it as “middle sized” or “medium sized.” For example Et mellomstort rom.
Eric: meaning “A middle sized room.”
Mai: In the sentence we also have blå meaning “blue”, and when it comes before a masculine or feminine noun you don’t need to conjugate it. But when it’s with a neuter noun, you add -t. “Blue” is an exception because you need to add two -tt with neuter nouns and in plural it remains blå.
Eric: What about the adjective meaning “floral”?
Mai: blomstrete is an adjective ending in -et and -ete. These adjectives are made up of a noun and -et or -ete at the end to express that an object is full of something.
Eric: This is very often used when describing patterns. Are there other similar adjectives?
Mai: Stripete
Eric: meaning “striped”
Mai: for example, you can say Kunne du hente den stripete kjolen min på vaskeriet?
Eric: “Could you pick up my striped dress at the laundry?”
Mai: Another similar adjective is Hullete
Eric: meaning “full of holes”
Mai: Må du bruke den hullete buksa?
Eric: meaning “Do you have to wear those trousers full of holes?”

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!

Comments

Hide