{"id":2651,"date":"2020-08-31T23:55:09","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T23:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2651"},"modified":"2020-09-01T02:07:55","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T02:07:55","slug":"if-we-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/if-we-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"If We Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hvis du g\u00e5r til venstre\u2026<\/strong> (Free image from Pixabay; no copyright.)<\/p><\/div>\n

If you ever tried coding, you may have come across \u201dif-then-else\u201d (if X happens then Y should happen, else Z should happen). If you haven\u2019t, no worries \u2013 you can probably get along for a long while without any if-clauses\u2026 But if I were you, I\u2019d still take a look at the little word in Norwegian. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

To make an if-clause, use the word hvis<\/strong> [viss] (if):<\/p>\n

Hvis det sn\u00f8r\u2026<\/strong> (If it snows\u2026)
\nHvis du vil\u2026 <\/strong>(If you want to\u2026)
\nHvis ikke det regner\u2026 <\/strong>(If it doesn\u2019t rain\u2026) < Be aware of the word order<\/a> here!<\/em> \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Add a main clause to the \u201dif\u201d, and you\u2019ve got a full conditional sentence:<\/p>\n

Hvis det sn\u00f8r, tar vi trikken.<\/strong> (If it snows, we take\/we\u2019ll take the tram.)
\nHvis du vil, kan du spise middag med oss. <\/strong>(If you want, you can eat dinner with us.)
\nHvis ikke det regner, vil de male hytta. <\/strong>(If it doesn\u2019t rain, they\u2019ll paint the cabin.)<\/p>\n

Please note that when the if-clause comes first, it\u2019s followed by a comma, as is also commonly the case in English (as I gather!) The two clauses may also be reversed, in which case the comma isn\u2019t used in Norwegian (but look how some of the words are reshuffled in the process):<\/p>\n

Vi tar trikken hvis det sn\u00f8r.<\/strong>
\nDu kan spise middag med oss hvis du vil.<\/strong>
\nDe vil male hytta hvis ikke det regner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The above phrases have been constructed for this post and may feel a bit artificial, as there is also another Norwegian word for \u2019if\u2019 that is commonly used in this position \u2013 dersom<\/strong>. For example: Vi tar trikken dersom det sn\u00f8r.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And oh! if by \u2019if\u2019 you mean \u2019whether\u2019, you can only use yet another word \u2013 om<\/strong>: Hun visste ikke om hun skulle gr\u00e5te eller le.<\/strong> (She didn\u2019t know whether she should cry or laugh.)<\/p>\n

Conditional phrases can get tricky<\/a> when you describe hypothetical situations (just think about the verb form in If I were you<\/em>)\u2026 This is not the time to go into great detail \u2013 I\u2019ll just give you a couple of examples:<\/p>\n

Hvis jeg var rik, (s\u00e5) ville jeg kj\u00f8pe\/kj\u00f8pt en bil.<\/strong> (If I were rich, [then] I\u2019d buy a car.)<\/p>\n

Dersom vi husket alt, hadde det v\u00e6rt enkelt \u00e5 l\u00e6re seg spr\u00e5k.<\/strong> (If we remembered everything, it would be easy to learn languages.)<\/p>\n

A cool feature of Norwegian is that the word \u2019if\u2019 can be dropped altogether from the start of a sentence (the verb then takes its place):<\/p>\n

Hvis du er sulten, kan du ta deg ei lefse. <\/strong>(If you\u2019re hungry, you may take a lefse [Norwegian soft bread\/pancake].)
\nEr du sulten, kan du ta deg ei lefse.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

If you ever tried coding, you may have come across \u201dif-then-else\u201d (if X happens then Y should happen, else Z should happen). If you haven\u2019t, no worries \u2013 you can probably get along for a long while without any if-clauses\u2026 But if I were you, I\u2019d still take a look at the little word in…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":2652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[537731,408440,3562,537733,473461,537736],"class_list":["post-2651","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-conditional-phrase","tag-conditional-sentence","tag-if","tag-if-clause","tag-lefse","tag-whether"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t