{"id":2379,"date":"2017-09-24T23:57:39","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T23:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2379"},"modified":"2017-09-25T02:41:57","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T02:41:57","slug":"asking-about-origins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/asking-about-origins\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking about Origins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

(Photo courtesy of Amy the Nurse at Flickr<\/a>, CC License.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hvor kommer du\/dere fra?<\/b> (Where do you\/you guys come from?) Some people don\u2019t like this question, but as a tourist it\u2019s hard to avoid the natives\u2019 curiosity. \ud83d\ude42 When asked in a friendly way, it can be a genuine icebreaker\u2026 Let\u2019s look at origins.<\/p>\n

The easiest way to reply is, of course, by means of the preposition fra<\/b> (from), followed by a stedsnavn<\/b> (place name):<\/p>\n

Vi er fra<\/i> Toten, vi! <\/b>(We\u2019re from Toten!)<\/p>\n

Jeg kommer fra<\/i> Svalbard.<\/b> (I come from Svalbard.)<\/p>\n

Please note that there are many dialekter<\/b> (dialects) in Norway, so very often you\u2019ll hear something that doesn\u2019t quite match the written languages (yes, there are two of them \u2013 nynorsk <\/b>and bokm\u00e5l<\/b>, which this blog is teaching). For example, instead of jeg<\/b> people from Nordnorge<\/b> (Northern Norway) will say \u00e6<\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n

Land<\/b> (countries) are easy, but of course not always the same as in English. Especially European countries have different names in Norwegian, due to different traditions:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeg er fra Norge, Sverige, Danmark, Island, F\u00e6r\u00f8yene<\/b>\u00a0(Faroe Islands), Finland\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026Tyskland<\/b>\u00a0(Germany), Frankrike, Nederland, Storbritannia<\/b>\u00a0(Great Britain), Irland<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026 Spania, Italia, Hellas<\/b>\u00a0(Greece), Kypros<\/b>\u00a0(Cyprus), Tyrkia<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026 Polen, Tsjekkia<\/b>\u00a0(Czech Republic), Ungarn<\/b>\u00a0(Hungary), Russland\u00a0<\/b>(Russia)<\/p>\n

\u2026 Japan, Kina, Korea, India, Filippinene<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026 Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026 S\u00f8r-Afrika<\/b>\u00a0(South Africa), Kenya, Nigeria, Kongo, Elfenbeinskysten<\/b>\u00a0(C\u00f4te d’Ivoire), Madagaskar<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026 Egypt, Saudi-Arabia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Syria<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026USA<\/b> [oo es ah], Canada, Mexico, Gr\u00f8nland, Cuba, Jamaica <\/b>[sha-]<\/p>\n

\u2026Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brasil<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can naturally also drop the fra<\/b> and replace the country by an adjective if you feel like it:<\/p>\n

Jeg er<\/b> norsk, svensk, dansk, islandsk, f\u00e6r\u00f8ysk, finsk\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026tysk, fransk, nederlandsk, britisk, irsk<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026spansk, italiensk, gresk, kypriotisk, tyrkisk<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026polsk, tsjekkisk, ungarsk, russisk<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026japansk, kinesisk, koreansk, indisk, filippinsk<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026indonesisk, australsk, newzealandsk, fijiansk<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026s\u00f8rafrikansk, kenyansk, nigeriansk, kongolesisk, ivoriansk, madagassisk<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026egyptisk, saudiarabisk, iransk, israelsk, pakistansk, syrisk<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026amerikansk, canadisk, mexicansk, gr\u00f8nlandsk, cubansk, jamaicansk<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2026peruansk, chilensk, argentinsk, brasiliansk<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Did you notice all the nice -sk, -sk<\/b>?) This is also a good option if you consider yourself part of a stateless ethnicity: samisk, kurdisk <\/b>(Sami, Kurdish)<\/p>\n

In case you don\u2019t like the question, here are some things to answer:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jeg har bodd mange ulike steder. N\u00e5 bor jeg i Roma.<\/b> (I\u2019ve been living many different places. Now I\u2019m living in Rome.)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Jeg er verdensborger. Hva med deg? <\/b>(I\u2019m a world citizen. How about you?)<\/p>\n

\u2022 Vet ikke, jeg. Hvor kommer du fra? <\/b>(Don\u2019t really know. Where do you come from?)<\/p>\n

Do you think it is okay or rude to ask people where they come from? Share your comments with the other readers below. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Hvor kommer du\/dere fra? (Where do you\/you guys come from?) Some people don\u2019t like this question, but as a tourist it\u2019s hard to avoid the natives\u2019 curiosity. \ud83d\ude42 When asked in a friendly way, it can be a genuine icebreaker\u2026 Let\u2019s look at origins. The easiest way to reply is, of course, by means of…<\/p>\n

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