Learn how to ask for clarification
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to NorwegianClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 2 - There's a Better Way to Get Around Norway! Eric Here. |
| Mai: Hei, I'm Mai. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to see clarification with the verb kunne. |
| Eric: The conversation takes place in the city center. |
| Mai: It's between Inger and Martin. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal Norwegian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Martin: Unnskyld meg, vet du hvor jeg kunne få kjøpt et ruterkort? |
| Inger: Jeg skjønner ikke helt hva du mener. Hva er et ruterkort? |
| Martin: Tja, det er et sånt reisekort man kan bruke på buss, trikk og t-bane. |
| Inger: Åja, et sånt du fyller på med penger? |
| Martin: Ja, akkurat. Vet du hvor jeg kan kjøpe det? |
| Inger: Nei, dessverre. Jeg har nettopp flyttet hit og jeg bruker bare bysykkel. |
| Martin: Okei, hva er bysykkel? |
| Inger: Det er en sånn sykkel man kan låne mot en viss sum i året. Du henter en sykkel fra et sykkelstativ, og så kan du parkere den i et annet sykkelstativ i nærheten av dit du skal. |
| Martin: Å, det hørtes smart ut. |
| Inger: Ja, og du kan betale over internett! |
| Martin: Da skal jeg gjøre det med en gang. Sykkel er jo mye bedre for helsa og miljøet. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Martin: Excuse me, do you know where I could buy a Ruter Card? |
| Inger: I do not quite understand what you mean. What is a Ruter Card? |
| Martin: Well, it is one of those travel cards you can use on the bus, tram, and metro. |
| Inger: Oh, one of those you charge with money? |
| Martin: Yes, exactly. Do you know where I can buy it? |
| Inger: No, unfortunately. I have just moved here and I only use citybike. |
| Martin: Okay, what is a citybike? |
| Inger: It's like a bicycle that you can borrow for a certain fee per year. You pick up a bicycle from a bike rack, and then you can park it in another bike rack close to where you're going. |
| Martin: Oh, that sounds smart. |
| Inger: Yes, and you can pay over internet! |
| Martin: Then I'll do it right away. Bicycles are much better for the health and the environment. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Is it common in Norway to ask a stranger or to be asked by a stranger for directions and such? |
| Mai: No, it’s not common. Norwegians tend to avoid talking to people they don't know unless it’s absolutely necessary. |
| Eric: So what can you do, if you don’t know your way around? |
| Mai: Instead of asking for directions, people tend to try and figure it out by themselves using smartphones, signs, and so on. A typical Norwegian is pretty asocial when it comes to people they don't know. It's not that we are rude or hate people, but Norwegians tend to want to mind their own business. |
| Eric: They don't want to disturb others and don't want to be disturbed either. |
| Mai: Of course, there are exceptions, and some Norwegians might find it nice to talk to strangers – it's just not very common. |
| Eric: But what if someone really needs to ask for a piece of information? |
| Mai: If you do feel like you must approach a Norwegian—be polite! Use polite phrases, smile and be friendly, and most Norwegians will be more than happy to help. |
| Eric: Good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Mai: å kunne [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to be able to, to be willing to, can |
| Mai: å kunne[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: å kunne [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Mai: ikke helt [natural native speed] |
| Eric: not quite |
| Mai: ikke helt[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: ikke helt [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Mai: stativ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: rack |
| Mai: stativ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: stativ [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Mai: åja [natural native speed] |
| Eric: oh, oh yeah |
| Mai: åja[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: åja [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Mai: å fylle [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to charge |
| Mai: å fylle[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: å fylle [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Mai: dessverre [natural native speed] |
| Eric: unfortunately |
| Mai: dessverre[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: dessverre [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Mai: i alle fall [natural native speed] |
| Eric: anyway |
| Mai: i alle fall[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: i alle fall [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Mai: ruterkort [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Ruter Card |
| Mai: ruterkort[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: ruterkort [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And lastly.. |
| Mai: reisekort [natural native speed] |
| Eric: travelcard |
| Mai: reisekort[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mai: reisekort [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Mai: ikke helt |
| Eric: meaning "not quite" |
| Mai: Ikke is an adverb meaning "not" and helt is an adverb meaning "completely." Together they usually mean "not quite." |
| Eric: When can we use it? |
| Mai: Norwegians use ikke helt a lot, especially in the phrase Jeg vet ikke helt meaning "I don't quite know" to stress the uncertainty. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Mai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Jeg vet ikke helt hva jeg ønsker meg til bursdagen min. |
| Eric: ..which means "I don't quite know what I want for my birthday." |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Mai: dessverre |
| Eric: meaning "unfortunately" |
| Mai: Dessverre has an apologetic tone and you often hear this if, for example, a store doesn't have what you're looking for. For example, Dessverre, vi har ikke fler igjen av den størrelsen |
| Eric: which means "Unfortunately, we don't have any more left of that size." |
| Mai: Here is another example, Jeg kan dessverre ikke hjelpe deg. |
| Eric: .. which means "I unfortunately can't help you." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Mai: å fylle |
| Eric: meaning "to charge" |
| Mai: Å fylle usually means "to fill" or "to stuff." For example, you could say, Jeg må fylle bensin på bilen |
| Eric: meaning "I have to fill gas in the car," |
| Mai: or Han fylte ryggsekken med epler, |
| Eric: meaning "He stuffed his backpack with apples." In this lesson we use this verb as in "to charge." |
| Mai: Å fylle can be used, for example, when you’re charging your community travel card or prepaid phone. |
| Eric: Can you give us another example using this verb? |
| Mai: Sure. For example, you can say.. Han liker paprika fylt med kjøttdeig. |
| Eric: .. which means "He likes bell peppers stuffed with minced meat." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to seek clarification using modal verbs. |
| Mai: In the dialogue the modal verb used was Kunne. |
| Eric: Auxiliary verbs include common and modal auxiliaries. Let’s start with the common ones. Among common auxiliary verbs, we find verbs that, just like ordinary verbs, produce complex verb forms. |
| Mai: The verbs in this group are å ha meaning “to have,” å være, “to be,” å bli, “to become,” and å få, “to get.” |
| Eric: And what are the modal auxiliary verbs? |
| Mai: å skulle meaning “should,” å kunne, “can,” å ville, “to want,” å måtte, “must,” and å burde, “should.” |
| Eric: The modal tells how the subject precedes the action and the main verb. Mai, can you give us some examples? |
| Mai: Jeg skal spise masse is denne sommeren. |
| Eric: “I am going to eat a lot of ice cream this summer.” |
| Mai: Han kan snakke tysk. |
| Eric: “He can speak German.” |
| Mai: In the dialogue Martin asks for a clarification using kunne. He says, Unnskyld meg, vet du hvor jeg kunne få kjøpt et ruterkort? |
| Eric: which means “Excuse me, do you know where I could buy a Ruter Card?” |
| Mai: In this case, the modal kunne doesn’t necessarily mean that the sentence is in the past tense. |
| Eric: You use modals in the past tense to sound more polite when asking. |
| Mai: Unlike English, some of these auxiliaries can be used without the main verb and is then recognized like any usual verb such as, Jeg skal hjem |
| Eric: literally meaning, “I shall home,” but it means “I will go home.” |
| Mai: Another example is, Han kan tysk |
| Eric: literally “He can German” but more naturally “He can speak German.” Ok, now let’s look more closely at how to ask for clarification. Sometimes, misunderstandings occur because of a lack of clarity regarding a particular subject. |
| Mai: To avoid these kinds of misunderstandings, you can use a phrase like the one in the dialogue: Jeg skjønner ikke helt hva du mener. |
| Eric: meaning “I do not quite understand what you mean.” |
| Mai: Other examples are Jeg henger ikke helt med. Kan du forklare? |
| Eric: Meaning "I’m not quite following you. Could you explain?" |
| Mai: Jeg forstår ikke i det hele tatt. Kan jeg få litt flere detaljer, vær så snill? |
| Eric: "I don't understand at all. Could I have some more details, please?" |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Mai: Ha det bra! |
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