Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Norwegian Un-words Unleashed Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Sep 29, 2017
U is both one of the nicest Norwegian sounds – and the ”Nor-way” to ”un-do” words. Turn something vanlig [VAANlee] (usual) into something quite u·vanlig [ooVAANlee] (un·usual) – and watch out for False Friends from English! (Or should that be false uvenner – “un-friends?”) Det er ukult å være uhipp, men noen ganger må du…
Matching words to make them stick Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Aug 27, 2017
Which is most important when learning a new language – grammar or words (vocabulary)? Well, most native speakers will forgive you if you make a grammatical mistake or two. Without basic words, however, you can only point and smile. Here is a neat trick to increase your vocabulary: Learn micro-phrases with two or three words…
Where not to put IKKE? Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 31, 2017
Ikke (not) phrases are often called negative phrases – even if some of them are very positive in meaning: Vi vil ikke ha mer krig! (We don’t want any more war!) Sometimes, though, even the most positive negative sentence can drive a poor language-learner mad: Where do(n’t) I put ikke? Let’s take some simple summer…
Spelling your name in Norwegian Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 29, 2017
When you check in at a hostel or meet a new friend, you’re sometimes asked to spell your navn (name). Fortunately, the Norwegian alfabet [alfaBEHT] is quite similar to the English one you already know. In case you forgot bokstavene (the letters), here’s a crash course. The first pitfall: i and e. (I’ve heard several…
Just do it! Giving orders in norsk Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 31, 2017
Bring my bag! Do it now, will you? Sometimes, there’s little time to be polite, and we need to give somebody a direct order. In English, we simply use the dictionary form of the verb (move! call! wait!) In Norwegian, it’s almost just as easy to make the imperativ (imperative) or ”order form” (well, no…
This day in Norwegian history Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on May 17, 2017
Gratulerer med dagen! It’s 17. mai again, Norges nasjonaldag (Norway’s national day). This time, let’s celebrate by taking a look back at how it all started… Many foreigners think that 17. mai is Norway’s independence day – which is only partially true… What is being celebrated is actually Norway’s grunnlovsdag (constitution day), the day the…
Norwegian Stress Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Feb 28, 2017
If you want to talk with the natives, you have to hit an uttale (pronunciation) that is not too far off. 🙂 Of course, having a bit of accent is okay, as long as people don’t need to guess whether you meant hat or head. Stress is one of those little details that do matter…