Learn about negation in Norwegian
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How do you say "no" in Norwegian? |
| Anette: And how do you make negative sentences? |
| Michael: At NorwegianClass101.com, we hear these questions often. In this scenario, Trygve Tvedt is organizing a party, so he is asking his guests about their food preferences. He asks his neighbor, Karen Lee, "Do you like pizza?" |
| Trygve: Liker du pizza? |
| Dialogue |
| Trygve: Liker du pizza? |
| Karen: Nei, det gjør jeg ikke. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Trygve: Liker du pizza? |
| Michael: "Do you like pizza?" |
| Karen: Nei, det gjør jeg ikke. |
| Michael: "No, I don't. " |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn how to say "no" and make negative sentences in Norwegian. First, let's review how to make a simple negative sentence. In Norwegian, there are several ways to make a negative sentence. However, the most common one is with the use of the word |
| Anette: ikke |
| Michael: which is equivalent to the English word "not." For instance, if you want the negation for |
| Anette: Jeg studerer. |
| Michael: or "I am studying," you can say |
| Anette: Jeg studerer ikke. |
| Michael: or "I am not studying." Here, we simply add the negation |
| Anette: ikke |
| Michael: or "not" after the verb, |
| Anette: studerer |
| Michael: or "studying." In Norwegian, the negation is usually added right after the verb. If a sentence has a modal verb and an active verb, the negation is placed between the verbs. For instance, to negate the sentence |
| Anette: Jeg burde bli. |
| Michael: or "I should stay," you can say |
| Anette: Jeg burde ikke bli. |
| Michael: or "I should not stay," simply adding the negation between the two verbs. Two other common words used for negation in Norwegian are |
| Anette: knapt |
| Michael: or "barely" and |
| Anette: aldri |
| Michael: or "never." There are instances when you can place the negation at the beginning of the sentence, and that's when the negation is part of a clause modifying another phrase. Here's an example: |
| Anette: Knapt et år hadde gått siden han dro. |
| Michael: "Barely a year had gone by since he left." Here's another example: |
| Anette: Aldri har jeg reist alene. |
| Michael: "Never have I traveled alone." |
| [Recall] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Karen Lee says "No, I don't." |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Anette as Karen Lee: Nei, det gjør jeg ikke. |
| Michael: In the dialogue, Karen was asked by her neighbor if she likes pizza. She answers in the negative and says she doesn't. If you notice, the negation |
| Anette: ikke |
| Michael: or "not," comes at the very end of the sentence, right after the verb |
| Anette: gjør |
| Michael: or "do." Also, notice how she says "no" at the beginning of the sentence? She used the word |
| Anette: Nei |
| Michael: which is the equivalent of the word "no" in English. This is the negation you use when answering Yes-No questions in Norwegian. And yes, this is how you say "no" in Norwegian. For instance, if you're asked |
| Anette: Vil du se en film? |
| Michael: "Do you want to see a movie?" You can simply say |
| Anette: Nei |
| Michael: to say that you don't. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned how to make a negative sentence in Norwegian with the use of the word |
| Anette: ikke |
| Michael: or "not." In most cases, we simply add this negation following the verb in the sentence. However, if there are two verbs in a sentence—a modal verb and an active verb—we place the negation between the two verbs. Of course, you also learned how to say the word "no" in Norwegian, which is |
| Anette: Nei |
| Michael: which is the negation you use when answering Yes-No questions. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Norway has an egalitarian culture, which means they do not use honorifics and simply address people—even professionals—by their first names. That may sound rude or impolite in some cultures, but that's pretty normal in Norway. So, how do you say "no" politely in Norwegian? The truth is that Norwegians are very polite people, and there are several ways you can refuse politely in their language. For instance, you can say |
| Anette: Nei takk |
| Michael: to say "No, thank you," or |
| Anette: Beklager, jeg kan ikke |
| Michael: to say "I can't." And if someone invites you out but you've already made plans, you can go with |
| Anette: Beklager, men jeg har allerede planer. |
| Michael: "Sorry, but I already have plans." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Anette: Ha det! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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