Learn how to ask where you can buy something
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| Have you ever been in a city you didn’t know at all, desperately searching for something you couldn’t find? I certainly have! I wandered around without knowing where to find a bus ticket, a phone, or even a restroom! But don’t worry. With our Survival Phrases, you’ll always be able to get the information and help you need in Norway. |
| In this lesson we’ll introduce you to phrases that will help you track down whatever you need. |
| ・ |
| “Where can I find (blank)?” in Nynorsk is |
| Kvar kan eg finne (blank)? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Kvar kan eg fin-ne (blank)? |
| One more time: |
| Kvar kan eg finne (blank)? |
| The first word, kvar, means “where.” |
| (slow) Kvar? |
| Kvar? |
| Next, we have a useful phrase we've seen often before, kan eg?, meaning “can I?” |
| (slow) Kan eg? |
| Kan eg? |
| Finally, we have finne a verb which translates into English as “find.” |
| (slow) Fin-ne. |
| Finne. |
| Then, you add the item or place you are looking for. |
| All together that’s |
| (slow) Kvar kan eg fin-ne (blank)? |
| Once more: |
| Kvar kan eg finne (blank)? |
| ・ |
| Let’s look at some things you might need to find when traveling abroad. Imagine you're walking around in Ålesund and you need a bus ticket. In this case all you have to do is add the item you are searching for after Kvar kan eg finne...? |
| “Where can I find bus tickets?” in Nynorsk is |
| Kvar kan eg finne bussbillettar? |
| Billettar is the plural form of billett, which means tickets. Here, we've added buss to the beginning to specify that we're looking for bus tickets. |
| (slow) buss-bil-let-tar |
| bussbillettar |
| (slow) Kvar kan eg fin-ne buss-bil-let-tar? |
| Kvar kan eg finne bussbillettar? |
| ・ |
| What if you are in a supermarket and you can’t find water. In that case ask: |
| Kvar kan eg finne vatn? |
| “Where can I find water?” |
| (slow) Kvar kan eg fin-ne vatn? |
| Kvar kan eg finne vatn? |
| With this structure, you can find anything you are looking for. |
| ・ |
| Another phrase that will be helpful for you is: |
| Kvar er...? |
| translated as “Where is?” Use this phrase when asking for the things you are looking for and also for finding a location. Imagine you’re looking for the subway station. “Where is the subway station?” would be |
| Kvar er T-banestasjonen? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Kvar er T-ba-ne-sta-sjo-nen? |
| Again at natural speed: |
| Kvar er T-banestasjonen? |
| The first two words are kvar er, “where is” |
| (slow) Kvar er. |
| Kvar er. |
| The last word is a compound of T-bane, meaning “subway” and stasjonen meaning “the station.” Put together, this phrase means “the subway station.” |
| (slow) T-ba-ne-sta-sjon-en. |
| T-banestasjonen. |
| The whole phrase is literally translated as |
| “Where is the subway station?” |
| Kvar er T-banestasjonen? |
| ・ |
| To ask about another thing just replace T-banestasjonen with the item you are looking for, and people will understand you perfectly. For example, let’s ask |
| “Where is the movie theater?” |
| Kvar er kinoen? |
| (slow) Kvar er ki-no-en? |
| Kvar er kinoen? |
| The word kinoen means “the movie theater,” or “the cinema.” |
| (slow) Kino-en. |
| Kinoen. |
| Replace the word kinoen with any other location and the little question will definitely help you to find what you want. |
| Lastly, remember that you can add the phrase for “excuse me,” unnskyld, before the question to make it more polite: |
| “Excuse me, where is the cinema?” |
| Unnskyld, kvar er kinoen? |
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