Betyr vs. Mener

In English, we use the word “mean” in several different ways as a verb.  In Norwegian, there are 2 separate verbs-“å bety” and “å mene” (in their infinitive forms).  In English, we can say “to tidy means to clean up.” In Norwegian, one would say “å rydde betyr å vaske opp,” but you could not say “å rydde mener å vaske opp.”  One uses “betyr” only when clarifying factual information, the actual “betydning” or meaning.   By the same token, in English one can say “He means that it is unhealthy to do that,”while in Norwegian, one must use the word “mener” when clarifying what “he” means-“Han mener at det usunt å gjøre dette.”  The verb “å mene” signifies one’s opinion, not the actual meaning of something.  In fact, it is safe to say that you cannot use “betyr” as a verb with a proper pronoun such as a person or a place.

Here are a few more examples:

-“Det betyr at de er veldig gamle.”  It means that they are very old.

-“Når sola skinner om vinteren, betyr det vanligvis at det er kaldt ute.”  When the sun shines during the winter, it usually means that it is cold outside (keep in mind that I live in MN).

-“Jeg mener at hun er vanskelig å arbeide med.”  I mean that she is difficult to work with.

-“Når han sier at han ikke er interessert i det lenger, mener han ikke egentlig det.”  When he says that he is no longer interested, he doesn’t actually mean it. 

The nouns that use the root of “bety” and “mene” are betydning (meaning) and mening (opinion).

And the different forms of the verbs are as follows:

Not so bad, right?  This rule of when to use “betyr” and when to use “mener” is similar to the verbs “tror” (thinks-as in a guess, for example “Jeg tror at det er der borte”-I think it’s over there) and “synes (thinks-as in one’s opinion, for example “Jeg synes at han er snill”-I think that he is nice).