Learn how to ask "Do you speak English?" in Nynorsk
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| In this lesson, we’ll cover another extremely important phrase - "Do you speak English?" Using this phrase is important for many reasons. For one, if the person you’re speaking to doesn’t understand English, at least they’ll be able to understand what you’re asking. Furthermore, it shows a lot of respect on your part, because you’ve made an effort to learn even a little bit of the language. For these reasons, we’re going to cover this very important phrase. |
| ・ |
| In Nynorsk, "Do you speak English?" is |
| Snakkar du engelsk? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Snak-kar du eng-elsk? |
| Once more: |
| Snakkar du engelsk? |
| Snakkar is a form of the verb å snakke, which in English is translated as “to speak” or “to talk.” |
| (slow) Snak-kar. |
| Snakkar. |
| Du means “you.” |
| The last word, engelsk, is the name for the English language. |
| (slow) Eng-elsk. |
| Engelsk. |
| Altogether we have |
| Snakkar du engelsk? |
| ・ |
| If you ask the question Snakkar du engelsk?, there's a good chance that you'll get an answer in Norwegian. Let's look at how to say “Yes, I speak English” in Nynorsk. |
| Ja, eg snakkar engelsk. |
| Let’s hear that slowly now: |
| (slow) Ja, eg snak-kar eng-elsk. |
| And one more time at natural speed: |
| Ja, eg snakkar engelsk. |
| The first word, ja, means “yes.” |
| (slow) Ja. |
| Ja. |
| The second word, eg, is the pronoun “I.” |
| After this comes snakkar which we already know means “speak.” |
| Finally, we have engelsk, which you'll remember means “English.” |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) Ja, eg snak-kar eng-elsk. |
| Ja, eg snakkar engelsk. |
| This phrase could be made shorter, just by saying |
| Ja. |
| ・ |
| If the person you're asking doesn't speak English, then they might reply |
| Nei, eg snakkar ikkje engelsk. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: |
| (slow) Nei, eg snak-kar ik-kje eng-elsk. |
| And again, at natural speed: |
| Nei, eg snakkar ikkje engelsk. |
| The first word, nei, means “no.” |
| (slow) Nei. |
| Nei. |
| We already know what eg snakkar means. |
| This is followed by ikkje, which in English means “not.” |
| (slow) Ik-kje. |
| Ikkje. |
| And finally, the word engelsk, which we know means “English.” |
| All together, that’s |
| (slow) Nei, eg snak-kar ik-kje eng-elsk. |
| Nei, eg snakkar ikkje engelsk. |
| Sometimes, people will answer only with “no,” which in Nynorsk is: |
| Nei. |
| (slow) Nei. |
| Nei. |
| ・ |
| Now for a fun challenge, let's try using different languages that are frequently taught in Norwegian schools. |
| “Do you speak German?" is |
| Snakkar du tysk? |
| The word for “German" is tysk. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Tysk. |
| Tysk. |
| The whole phrase again: |
| Snakkar du tysk? |
| Now let’s try with French. |
| Snakkar du fransk? |
| The word fransk means “French.” |
| (slow) fransk |
| fransk |
| ・ |
| Another common way of asking someone if they speak a language is to use the phrase Kan du ..., followed the name of the language. |
| Kan du engelsk? |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: |
| (slow) Kan du eng-elsk? |
| Kan du engelsk? |
| Kan means “can” as in “to be able to” |
| (slow) Kan |
| Kan |
| Let’s hear it again: |
| Kan du engelsk? |
| This phrase is translated as “Do you know English?” |
| ・ |
| Now let's try asking “Do you know Spanish?” |
| (slow) Kan du spansk? |
| Kan du spansk? |
| The word spansk means “Spanish.” |
| (slow) spansk |
| spansk |
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