Learn some common noun suffixes in Norwegian
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What are some noun suffixes in Norwegian? |
| Inger: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At NorwegianClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Ben Lee hears a new word that sounds familiar, but he isn't sure about the meaning. He asks his friend, "What does ‘nødvendighet’ mean?" |
| Ben: Hva betyr "nødvendighet"? |
| Dialogue |
| Ben: Hva betyr "nødvendighet"? |
| Silje: Det betyr "necessity". |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben: Hva betyr "nødvendighet"? |
| Michael: "What does 'nødvendighet' mean?" |
| Silje: Det betyr "necessity." |
| Michael: "It means 'necessity.'" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: A suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a stem or root word, which results in the formation of a new word. In English grammar, a suffix is added to a word either for the derivation of a new word or to form an inflection. The same is true in Norwegian grammar where a suffix is called |
| Inger: suffiks |
| Michael: In English grammar, suffixes are often used to form plural nouns. It’s the same way in Norwegian. However, in Norwegian, suffixes serve other purposes. They also function in a similar manner to the definite article in English. In English, there is only one definite article, which is "the," and it is placed before the noun, or |
| Inger: substantiv |
| Michael: It’s quite different in Norwegian, where the definite article would depend on the gender of the noun. Not only that, but they are also attached to the end of the noun in the form of a suffix. For instance, if you want to say "the book" in Norwegian, you say that as |
| Inger: boken |
| Michael: where -en serves as the definite article. Another definite article is |
| Inger: et |
| Michael: such as in the word |
| Inger: huset |
| Michael: or "the house." Here, the suffix, which also functions as a definite article, is attached to the noun |
| Inger: hus |
| Michael: which means "house." In this lesson, we will focus on noun suffixes, which are suffixes that form nouns out of adjectives, verbs, and fellow nouns. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue to understand this better. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee says "What does 'nødvendighet' mean?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Inger as Ben Lee: Hva betyr "nødvendighet"? |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Silje says "It means 'necessity?'" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Inger as Silje: Det betyr "necessity". |
| Michael: Ben Lee asks his friend about the meaning of the word, |
| Inger: nødvendighet. |
| Michael: His friend replies, telling him it means "necessity." In Norwegian, the root word for "necessity" is |
| Inger: nødvendig |
| Michael: which is the adjective "necessary." Attached to it is the suffix, |
| Inger: het, |
| Michael: a suffix that turns adjectives into nouns. In this case, the resulting word is the noun |
| Inger: nødvendighet |
| Michael: or "necessity." Norwegian noun suffixes can also turn verbs into nouns. One such suffix is |
| Inger: -else |
| Michael: such as in the word |
| Inger: forståelse |
| Michael: This word is derived from the verb |
| Inger: forstå, |
| Michael: which means "to understand." Adding the suffix in question, we get the noun "understanding." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ve learned that noun suffixes in Norwegian are used to form nouns out of adjectives, verbs, and fellow nouns. Being familiar with how these suffixes work is important as attaching them to a particular word completely changes the meaning of that word. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: So far, we’ve covered a couple of commonly used noun suffixes in Norwegian. Why don’t we take a look at a few more? Let’s start with the suffix, |
| Inger: -lig |
| Michael: This suffix is used to form nouns from adjectives. Think of it as the suffix "-le" or "-ly" in English. You’ll find it in words like |
| Inger: daglig, |
| Michael: which means "daily." The word is derived from the word |
| Inger: dag, |
| Michael: which means "day." Another word that uses this suffix is |
| Inger: enslig |
| Michael: This is derived from the word |
| Inger: en, |
| Michael: meaning "one." Adding the suffix, we get the word "single." Another common noun suffix in Norwegian is |
| Inger: bar |
| Michael: This suffix converts both nouns and verbs into nouns and is the equivalent of the English suffix "-able." One word that carries this suffix is |
| Inger: bærbar |
| Michael: which is derived from the word |
| Inger: bær, |
| Michael: which interestingly means "to carry." The addition of the suffix turns it into the word "bearable." Finally, we have the noun suffix |
| Inger: -ning |
| Michael: This suffix forms nouns from verbs, and one common word that bears this suffix is |
| Inger: erstatning |
| Michael: which means "replacement." It’s derived from the verb, |
| Inger: erstatte, |
| Michael: a Norwegian verb that means "to replace" or "to substitute." |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: Norwegian nouns are either of three genders: feminine, masculine, or neuter. Knowing the gender of a noun can be as simple as looking at the suffix. Masculine nouns, for instance, end in the suffix |
| Inger: en, |
| Michael: while feminine nouns end in the suffix |
| Inger: -a. |
| Michael: Note that most feminine nouns can also be used as masculine nouns, but not vice versa. |
| Michael: As for neuter nouns, they end in the suffix, |
| Inger: -et |
| Michael: These endings are only for nouns in their singular definite form. The endings for singular indefinite and plural definite and indefinite nouns are different, but that’s another lesson altogether. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Inger: Ha det! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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