{"id":2197,"date":"2016-04-25T11:46:15","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T11:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2197"},"modified":"2016-04-25T11:46:15","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T11:46:15","slug":"your-norwegian-possessives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/your-norwegian-possessives\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Norwegian Possessives"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vaar\"<\/a>When you want to say \u201dyour\u201d or \u201dmy\u201d something, there are really three things to consider in Norwegian:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

1. Before or after?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In Norwegian, a possessive pronoun (\u201dour\u201d, \u201dtheir\u201d\u2026) may be placed either before or after a noun: <\/span><\/span><\/span>Det er <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>min dag<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span> i dag! <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>(\u201dIt\u2019s my day today<\/a>\u201d = It\u2019s my lucky day) vs. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Har du sett <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>iPad-en min<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span>? <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>(Have you seen my iPad?)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, how to choose? I\u2019d say: Put \u2019em at the end! \ud83d\ude42 Expressions such as <\/span><\/span><\/span>v\u00e5rt land<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span><\/span>hans bil<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (our country, his car) often feel a bit old-fashioned or formal. Of course, it depends on the region you\u2019re in. In most spoken Norwegian, however, speakers naturally opt for <\/span><\/span><\/span>landet v\u00e5rt<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span><\/span>bilen hans<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>. As you\u2019ve probably noticed, the \u201dthe form\u201d of the noun is used in this context (\u201dthe-country our\u201d, \u201dthe-car his\u201d). The up-front version, though, is still common in many expressions and in poetic language: <\/span><\/span><\/span>Din tanke er fri<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (\u201dThy thought is free\u201d \u2013 a song title).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

2. Does it go with a plural, or an \u201det\u201d, \u201den\u201d or \u201dei\u201d noun?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If the possessive pronoun ends in an <\/span><\/span><\/span>-s<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>, you\u2019re lucky \u2013 it doesn\u2019t change at all: <\/span><\/span><\/span>katten \u2013 bikkja \u2013 huset \u2013 barna hans\/hennes\/deres <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>(his\/her\/their cat \u2013 dog \u2013 house \u2013 children). (<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u201dBikkje\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>is another and quite everyday-ish word for <\/span><\/span><\/span>hund.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The other ones, however, have different forms: <\/span><\/span><\/span>katten min\/din\/v\u00e5r<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> \u2013 bikkja di\/mi\/v\u00e5r \u2013 huset mitt\/ditt\/v\u00e5rt \u2013 barna mine\/dine\/v\u00e5re<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (my\/your\/our cat \u2013 dog \u2013 house \u2013 children).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike English, these little words don\u2019t change when they\u2019re on their own: <\/span><\/span><\/span>the girl is mine<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> = <\/span><\/span><\/span>jenta er mi<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>. (Sorry, I couldn\u2019t resist dropping a pop reference!)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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3. Does it refer to someone else?<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is the tricky part\u2026 Take the phrases <\/span><\/span><\/span>Hun \u00f8delegger boka hennes <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>(She\u2019s destroying her book), <\/span><\/span><\/span>Han tar hatten hans <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>(He\u2019s taking his hat), <\/span><\/span><\/span>De spiser eplene deres <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>(They\u2019re eating their apples). In each instance, the thing destroyed or taken or eaten belongs to <\/span><\/span><\/span>someone else<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> than the persons who are active. If they destroyed or took or ate their own things, the phrases would look like this:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hun \u00f8delegger boka si.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Han tar hatten sin.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

De spiser eplene sine.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The neuter form is <\/span><\/span><\/span>sitt<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: <\/span><\/span><\/span>De sitter i treet sitt.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (They\u2019re sitting in their tree \u2013 and not in someone else\u2019s.) This is a grammatical nicety that doesn\u2019t exist in English, so stay alert when you read or listen to Norwegian! \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

When you want to say \u201dyour\u201d or \u201dmy\u201d something, there are really three things to consider in Norwegian: 1. Before or after? In Norwegian, a possessive pronoun (\u201dour\u201d, \u201dtheir\u201d\u2026) may be placed either before or after a noun: Det er min dag i dag! (\u201dIt\u2019s my day today\u201d = It\u2019s my lucky day) vs. Har…<\/p>\n

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