Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Hei. Hello and welcome to Norwegian Survival Phrases brought to you by NorwegianClass101.com
This course is to sign to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Norway. You'll be surprised at how far a little Norwegian will go. Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by NorwegianClass101.com and there you'll find the accompanying pdf and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

Lesson focus

Have you ever been in a city you don't know at all and you are desperately looking for something you need and cannot find it? It has happened to me so many times! I wandered around without knowing where to go to find, for example, a bar, a phone, or a restroom! But don't worry! Thanks to our Survival Phrases, if you go to Norway you will always be able to ask for information and help.
In this lesson, we would like to introduce you to a phrase that will help you track down that specific something you're looking for. "Where can I find...," in Norwegian is: Hvor kan jeg finne ...? Then, you add the name of the specific thing you are looking for.
In this sentence, you can use a basic structure in any situation in which you will need to get something. This structure is made up of the adverb hvor ("where"), followed by the verb kan ("can"), and then finne ("find") in Norwegian, after which you add the thing you are looking for.
Let's hear it slowly: Hvor kan jeg fin-ne?
Now let’s hear it once again: Hvor kan jeg fin-ne?
Now let's see what kinds of things you might need if you're traveling abroad. Let's imagine you're walking around in Oslo, it's very hot, and you need to get something to drink.
Let's go and ask where you can find a bar!
"Where can I find a bar?" in Norwegian is: Hvor kan jeg finne en bar?
In Norway, the answer is "here and there."
As you can easily see, you have the structure you have just seen, Hvor kan jeg finne ...? followed by the thing you are looking for, bar ("a bar"). In this case, bar has an article to mark an undefined accusative, and it has to be pronounced en bar.
Let's break down this sentence: Hvor kan jeg fin-ne en bar?
Hvor kan jeg finne en bar?
With this form, you can go anywhere you need and ask for anything you are looking for. You could use another form if you wanted to be more polite and wanted to use a different expression. Let's imagine you are looking for a phone this time.
"Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find a phone?" is: Unnskyld, Hvor kan jeg finne en telefon?
Unnskyld, Hvor kan jeg finne en telefon?
Don't you think this is more formal? Of course it is! So what do we have here? We have unnskyld ("excuse me"). There is really no reason to break this construction down any more. Just remember, after we have said Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne ("Excuse me, where can I find"), we have to add what we want to be told! In this case, we want to find a "phone," which is hvor kan jeg finne en telefon?
Very similar to our previous sentence, this time the object is telefon ("telephone")
Let's see the whole sentence again: Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en telefon?
To ask for any other item, we can just replace bar or telefon with any other word and the phrase works brilliantly! Let's try it with "supermarket," which in Norwegian is matbutikk.
Let's break this word down: mat-bu-tikk.
Now let’s hear it once again: matbutikk
"Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find a supermarket?" in Norwegian is: Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en matbutikk?
Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en matbutikk?

Outro

Okay, to close out today's lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You'll have a few seconds before I give you the answer; so, Så lykke til, which means "good luck" in Norwegian.
"Where can I find...?" - Hvor kan jeg finne ...?
Hvor kan jeg finne ...?
Hvor kan jeg finne ...?
"Where can I find a bar?" - Hvor kan jeg finne en bar?
Hvor kan jeg finne en bar?
Hvor kan jeg finne en bar?
"Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find a phone?" - Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en telefon?
Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en telefon?
Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en telefon?
"Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find a supermarket?" - Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en matbutikk?
Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en matbutikk?
Unnskyld, hvor kan jeg finne en matbutikk?
Alright, that's going to do it for this lesson. Remember to stop by NorwegianClass101.com and pick up the accompanying pdf. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

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