Sixteenth lesson

Prepositions and Norwegian food

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Hello, we meet in the sixteenth lesson. Are you ready to learn nice and correct norwegian with norwegianABC.com? In this sixteenth lesson, we will explore preposisjoner – prepositions.

Lesson video   

Dictionary   

#WordTranslation
1å henge  to hang
2å være glad for  to be happy about something
3å være interessert i  to be interested in something
4ærlig talt  Frankly saying! Or – Honestly!
5dette mener du ikke  you surely do not mean that/or/you really do not think so.
6du tar helt feil  you are very wrong!
7lytt og gjenta  listen and repeat
8preposisjoner  prepositions
9i skogen  in the forest
10i skapet  in the cabinet
11i lommen  in the pocket
12på skapet  on the cabinet
13på vannet  on the water
14på bordet  on the table
15foran  in front
16foran vinduet  against the window
17foran PC–en  in front of the computer
18foran inngangen  in front of the entrance
19under  under / during
20under bordet  under the table
21under stolen  under the chair
22under krigen  during the war
23under fødselen  during the labour
24over  over
25over bordet  over the table
26over vannet  over the water
27over huset  over the house
28gjennom  through
29gjennom vinduet  through the window
30gjennom mange år  through many years
31ved ved siden av  beside, next to
32ved siden av huset  beside, next to the house
33ved vinduet  beside the window
34ved siden av skrivebordet  next to the desk
35mot  near, against, towards
36mot døren  near/towards the door
37mot mobbing  against bullying
38rundt  around, over
39rundt jorden  around the Earth
40rundt solen  around the Sun
41rundt bordet  around the table
42et hjørne  a corner
43ei lampe  lamp
44ei en lomme  pocket
45et tog  a train
46et fjell  a mountain
47på fjellet  to the mountains
48ei en seng  bed
49hør nå her  now listen to me!
50hold kjefta  shut up!
51nå slutter du  stop it right now!
52ta det litt med ro, da  calm down!
53nei, slett ikke  no way
54jeg er uening med deg  I disagree with you.
55jeg er ikke enig med deg  I disagree with you.

Notes   

  • - Hei du! Velkommen til leksjon nummer seksten!
  • - God dagen!

Hello, we meet in the sixteenth lesson. Are you ready to learn nice and correct norwegian with norwegianABC.com? Today me and Ema, while flying to Hurghada, got stuck at the intermediate airport in Moscow due to bad weather. Besides, what is ‘bad weather’ in Norwegian, Ema?

  • - et uvær

Yes... we got stuck, but I hope not for long. Let’s start the lesson with a listening exercise, lytteøvelse. Let’s practice to pronounce the vowel a.   lytt og gjenta – listen and repeat.


smake takk ananas
mat kan salami
lam betaler banan
vann kaffe tar
hva flaske Moskva

Fine. Another listening task – how many syllables do you hear? Hvor mange stavelser hører du?/Hvor mange stavelser hører du? Listen and say in Norwegian how many syllables there are in a word.

vann
én stavelse
mat
én stavelse
fisk
én stavelse
frisøren
tre stavelse
banan
to stavelse
sjokoladekake
seks stavelse

Well done. Now let’s continue with the grammar. In this sixteenth lesson, we will explore   preposisjoner – prepositions.

Prepositions indicate the location of an object or a person in respect to another object or person – next to a house, in Oslo, etc. There are many prepositions. We will review and learn the most commonly used prepositions. Preposisjoner never go alone in a sentence, they are adjacent to the noun – substantiv, verb infinitive – infinitiv or pronoun – pronomen. Some cases you will have to learn by heart, because unfortunately, there are no rules on when to use each preposition. And fortunately, some prepositions still obey some rules.

1. First, let’s talk about the prepositions of place that indicate that something/someone is somewhere or moving towards something/someone.


The preposition I is used to say that something/someone is inside, for example:

In the forest
  i skogen
In the cabinet
  i skapet
In the pocket
  i lommen

Attention. The noun following the preposition is usually in a definite form – bestemt.


The preposition PÅ indicates that something/someone is on the top or on the outside:

On the cabinet
  på skapet
On the water
  på vannet
On the table
  på bordet

Preposition   foran – in front

Against the window
  foran vinduet
In front of the computer
  foran PC–en
In front of the entrance
  foran inngangen

Preposition   under – under or during

Under the table
  under bordet
Under the chair
  under stolen
During the war
  under krigen
During the labour
  under fødselen

Preposition   over – over

Over the table
  over bordet
Over the water
  over vannet
Over the house
  over huset

Preposition   gjennom – through

Through the window
  gjennom vinduet
Through many years
  gjennom mange år
Travel through Sweden
  reise gjennom Sverige

Preposition   ved ved siden av – beside, next to

Beside, next to the house
  ved siden av huset
Beside the window
  ved vinduet
Next to the desk
  ved siden av skrivebordet

Preposition   mot – near, against, towards

Near/towards the door
  mot døren
Against bullying
  mot mobbing

Preposition   rundt – around, over

Around the Earth
  rundt jorden
Around the Sun
  rundt solen
Around the table
  rundt bordet

Let’s do a task with prepositions. I will say a sentence in English and you will translate it. After a pause, Ema will help you check it. La oss begynne.


Jan is looking through the window. - Jan ser gjennom vinduet. Attention, the noun following the preposition is in the bestemt form.

A chair is standing in the corner. I’ll prompt you, a corner is   et hjørne. - Stolen står i hjørnet.

The lamp is hanging over the table. Lamp –   ei lampe. To hang –   å henge. - Lampa henger over bordet.

The hands are in the pocket. Pocket –   ei en lomme. - Hendene er i lommen.

I am travelling around the Earth. - Jeg reiser rundt jorden.

She is standing near the window. - Hun står ved vinduet.

A cat is lying on the table. - Katten ligger bordet.

He is walking towards the door. - Han går mot døren.


  • - Jan, how about our flight, do they have any news? Maybe the weather has improved?
  • - Nei, desverre. Nei, desverre. – Unfortunately not.
    Flyet er forsinket. – The flight is delayed.

Well, let’s continue with the lesson on prepositions then.


When speaking about geographical names and talking about the world parts, countries, cities, municipalities, we will use the preposition I:

I Europa
in Europe
I Norge
in Norge
I Oslo
in Oslo
I Finnmark
in Finnmark municipality

When talking about islands and some of the Norwegian municipalities, we will use the preposition PÅ:

på Kvaløy
in the Kvaløy Island
på Hawaii
in the Hawaii Island
på Sørlandet
in the Eastern Norway
på Vestlandet
in the Western Norway

When talking that someone is in some PLACE (in a city, at the doctor’s, in the garage, etc.), we will use the på – i – hos:

Jeg bor i Oslo.
I live in Oslo.
I am at work.
I am at work.
Jeg treffer Lise på toget.
I meet Lisa on the train.
  et tog
a train
Nora er på kjøkkenet.
Nora is in the kitchen.
Kjell bor på landet.
Kjell lives in a village.

Attention, if we say i landet, it will mean in the country, and på landet means in the rural area.

In terms of places, the use of I and do not follow the rules. In some cases, we can say both I or på, for example, i jobben, på jobben; however, more often we say på. In most cases, however, you will have to learn by heart what preposition should be used. Do not worry, you cannot learn all of them at once, so do not even try. After a while and after learning the language and some practicing, the prepositions and the nouns used with them will get arranged properly in your mind.

Continuing talking about the prepositions, namely hos, we can gladly notice that a rule is applied over it: we use it in the meaning at to indicate a location, for example:

Han bor hos kusinen.
He lives at his cousin’s.
Jeg sitter hos tannlegen.
I am sitting at the dentist’s.
I dag går vi på besøk hos Elias.
Today we are going to Elias’s.

Remember that å gå på besøk means "to visit someone". It’s simple, right?

You probably have already got tired. OK, it’s time for "Fakta om Norge". We will continue talking about traditional Norwegian food, this time about festive food. Norway is the penultimate European country to adopt Christianity and therefore, it is not surprising that the festive traditions have not caught on immediately. Well, except for Christmas. Christmas is celebrated in the country with real euphoria: Christmas meals are sometimes being enjoyed even since September, and in most cases – a month before Christmas. The main Christmas meal – lutefisk – is fish well soaked in fat. We usually serve 12 meals on the table, while the Norwegians traditionally cook 7 meals. Of course, if you do not count the treats and sweets. The cooking starts a week before this most beautiful celebration of the year. This process, by the way, is nicely called ‘seven children’. The traditional Christmas drink – vodka – akevitt – akvavit is flavoured with herbs: caraway, anise, dill, fennel, coriander or grains of paradise.

Christmas bread – Julekake – is eaten warm, just pulled out of the oven, abundantly covered with butter. Mutton rolls, pork sausages, smoked lamb leg are the main dishes.

For dessert – bløtkake – a very delicious layered cake with whipped cream and jam layer, gingerbread cakes, and donuts are eaten. Mmmm, really tasty. Next time in “Fakta om Norge” we will talk about traditional and favourite Norwegian drinks. And what is the most exotic Norwegian dish, you are asking? In my opinion, it is a boiled sheep’s head served with the eyes – yes, the eyes – served on a big plate!

Let’s continue our lesson about preposisjoner – prepositions.


2. The other group is the prepositions of place indicating that something is moving from one place to/towards another.

In this case, we will use til, på, fra, i. As I have said before, there is no rule on when and what preposition should be used so let’s memorize the most commonly used phrases:

Vi liker å gå på kino og på teater. – We love/like going to the cinema and to the theatre.

Tobias går i banken. – Tobias is going to the bank.

Jeg går på jobben. – I am going to work.

Jeg skal til Bergen. – I will go to Bergen.

Jeg skal på biblioteket. – I will go to the library.

Anita kommer fra Oslo. – Anita is arriving from Oslo.

Vi skal gå i butikken. Eller: Vi skal gå på butikken. – We will go to the store.


As you can see, this noun can be used with two prepositions.

Vi skal reise på fjellet. – We’ll go/travel to the mountains.

  et fjell
a mountain
  på fjellet
to the mountains

Jeg går til sengs. – I am going to bed.

  ei en seng
bed
Å gå til sengs
to go to sleep, to go to bed

Practice. Ema will say a sentence with the omitted preposition I or and you will have to add it. Let’s repeat the use of these prepositions and start the exercise.


Hvor bor du? – Where do you live?

Jeg bor _____ Nord‐Norge. – I live in northern Norway.

Jeg bor i Nord‐Norge.


Jeg bor _____ Østlandet. – I live in eastern Norway.

Jeg bor Østlandet.


Jeg bor _____ Hawaii. – I live in Hawaii.

Jeg bor Hawaii.


Jeg bor _____ Asia. – I live in Asia.

Jeg bor i Asia.


Jeg bor _____ landet. – I live in a village.

Jeg bor landet.


Well done, do not give up and repeat, repeat until you learn.

Oh, and our flight has been delayed again... Vi skal sove på benken. We will sleep on the bench.

I’m really disappointed and angry... Well no, I am not going to sleep on a bench, we need to find a hotel, maybe the weather will be better tomorrow? Hm, seeing a snowstorm through the window, I am starting to doubt it. Jan, let’s go and find a hotel. Jan, la oss gå og finne et hotell.

  • - Hva? Nei, slett ikke. – What? Absolutely not.
  • - Jan, vil du sove på benken? Flyet er forsinket! Jan, do you want to sleep on the bench? The flight is delayed!
    Klokka er kvart på elleve. – It is 22.45 now.
  • - Javel. Hva er galt med å sove på benken? – So what? What’s wrong with sleeping on the bench?
  • - Jan, dette mener du ikke! – Jan, you do not really mean that! Du er en egoist! – You are selfish!
  • - Ta det med ro, da! Ta det med ro, da! – Come on, calm down! Jeg er ikke enig med deg. Jeg er ikke enig med deg. – I disagree with you.
  • - Nei, du tar helt feil. Jeg skal ikke sove på benken i Moskva. – No, you’re very wrong. I’m not going to sleep on a bench in Moscow. Ærlig talt! Frankly!
  • - Jeg er uening med deg, Ema. – I disagree with you, Ema.
    Vi må vente litt. Hør nå, vinden blåser nesten ikke. – We have to wait a bit. Listen, the wind has almost calmed down.
  • - Men det snør heftig! – But it is snowing heavily! Nei, Jan, nå må du gi deg! – No, Jan, now you have to give up.
  • - Ema, skal vi snakke litt mer om preposisjoner?

Dear students, in our dialogue you’ve heard a lot of expressions used by the Norwegians when they argue; let’s repeat them and learn some new:

  hør nå her!
Now listen to me!
  hold kjefta!
Shut up!
  ærlig talt!
Frankly saying! Or – Honestly!
  nå slutter du!
Stop it right now!
  du tenker bare på deg selv!
You only think of yourself!
  ta det litt med ro, da!
Calm down!

If you do not agree with your interlocutor, you can say:

  nei, slett ikke.
No way.
  jeg er uening med deg.
I disagree with you.
  jeg er ikke enig med deg.
I disagree with you.
  du tar helt feil.
You are very wrong.
  dette mener du ikke.
You surely do not mean that/or/you really do not think so.

We have had a lot of negative expressions so let’s learn some positive expressions with prepositions which you will have to learn by heart. They are called faste uttrykk.

Jeg er glad i deg.
I love you.
Jeg er forelsket i deg.
I am in love with you.
Jeg er interessert i teater.
I am interested in theatre.
Jeg er glad for å ha en venn.
I am happy to have a friend.
  å være interessert i
to be interested in something
  å være glad for
to be happy about something
  • - Ema, Ema, hør nå! De sier at flyet til Hurgada går klokka étt! Hurra! Hurra! – Ema, Ema, listen to me! They say the plane flies to Hurghada at one o’clock! Hooray! Hurray!
  • - How nice! Så bra! Jeg er glad for at vi skal til Hurgada! I am happy we will be flying to Hurghada! I am shouting hurray together with Jan and saying to you: see you, vi snakkes!
  • - Ha det, ha det!