{"id":2790,"date":"2021-08-28T20:27:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T20:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2790"},"modified":"2021-08-28T20:27:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T20:27:24","slug":"its-a-numbers-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/its-a-numbers-game\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s a Numbers Game"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you don\u2019t know the numbers, tourist areas such as Bryggen<\/strong><\/a> in Bergen might ruin you! ? (Image by estai<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a>; no copyright.)<\/p><\/div>\n

How often do you need to do number tricks in a foreign language? Det st\u00e5r nok ikke \u00f8verst p\u00e5 lista<\/strong> (it probably isn\u2019t on top of the list), but still, if you\u2019re a little bit like me, you\u2019ll sometimes find yourself in situations where simply counting<\/a> is not enough\u2026<\/p>\n

In Norwegian, saying basic calculations out loud is quite straightforward:<\/p>\n

2 + 2 = 4 <\/strong><\/p>\n

to pluss to er fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

4 – 1 = 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

fire minus en er tre<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 * 2 = 4<\/strong><\/p>\n

to ganger to er fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

10 \/ 2 = 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

ti delt p\u00e5 to er fem<\/strong><\/p>\n

In order to get somebody\u2019s math help, you can use the question words hva<\/strong> (what) or hvor mye <\/strong>(how much):<\/p>\n

Hva er \u00e5tte ganger \u00e5tte? Hvor mye er nitten pluss syv? <\/strong>(What is eight times eight? How much is nineteen plus seven?)<\/p>\n

Be ware of .<\/strong> and ,<\/strong> !!! In Norwegian, the \u201ddecimal point\u201d is written with a comma:<\/span><\/p>\n

7 \/ 2 = 3,5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

syv delt p\u00e5 to er tre komma fem <\/strong>(seven divided by two is three point five)<\/span><\/p>\n

Conversely, a point is sometimes used to make large numbers easier to read:<\/span><\/p>\n

Billetten koster kun 3.600 kroner!<\/strong> (The ticket only costs 3,600 Kroner!)<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s frustrating that the English and Norwegian systems are like mirror images in this respect! But now you\u2019re warned, so the punctuation doesn\u2019t trick you into buying too expensive souvenirs\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, some examples of fractions and percentages and \u201dstuff\u201d1<\/a><\/sup>This is not a math blog, so I hope you mathematicians can forgive my imprecision! \ud83d\ude09<\/span>:<\/p>\n

50% [femti prosent] rabatt! Halv pris! <\/strong>(50% discount! Half price!)<\/p>\n

en halv, en tredjedel, en fjerdedel, en femtedel, tre femtedeler\u2026<\/strong> (1\/2, 1\/3, 1\/4, 1\/5, 3\/5)<\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s right, with the exception of 1\/2, fractions are made by adding del(er)<\/strong> \u201dpart(s)\u201d to an ordinal number<\/a> such as \u201dfourth\u201d, \u201dseventh\u201d\u2026 Notice the special word halvparten:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Halvparten av alle turister liker iskrem! <\/strong>(One half of all tourists likes ice cream!)<\/p>\n

Huset er dobbelt s\u00e5 stort som hytta.<\/strong> (The house is twice as big as the cabin.)<\/p>\n

Med en sykkel kan folk reise fire ganger fortere enn om de g\u00e5r.<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>I borrowed this phrase from a Norwegian NGO<\/a> that works to improve the lives of refugees.<\/span> (With a bike people can travel four times faster than if they walk.)<\/p>\n