Third lesson

Jeg kan snakke norsk - I can speak Norwegian. Most common professions.

Please remember what you learnt last time. Listen to Jan and repeat all of it. After repeating out loud, translate everything into English, and then answer a question. Er dere klare? - Are you ready? Let's begin!

dictionary

Dictionary   

notes

Notes   

• - Hei alle sammen! Hvordan går det med dere? I’m Jan, your Norwegian teacher, greeting you for the third time. You can find Norwegian lessons on our site, norwegianABC.com, anytime – either in the morning, or in the evening. Ema and I, your faithful assistants in Norwegian, hope that you‘re doing well!
• - Hei alle sammen. Hvordan går det? Hallo, Jan, går det fint?
• - Hallo, Ema. Det går bra, takk. Hva med deg?
• - Ja, det går veldig bra, takk.

How are you doing? Don‘t forget to independently learn new words - lær nye ord? Maybe you study with written words on leaflets like I have mentioned earlier? And maybe you listen to Norwegian radio – høre på norsk radio or have the possibility to watch their TV shows – se på norsk TV, to listen to Norwegian songs – høre norske sanger? It‘s very helpfull if you do it! If you don‘t have such possibilities, listen to norwegianABC.com lessons as often as you can, and you‘ll learn proper and beautiful Norwegian language.

Learn new words

  lær nye ord

Listen to Norwegian radio

  høre på norsk radio

Watch Norwegian TV shows

  se på norsk TV

Listen to Norwegian songs

  høre norske sanger

Today is the third lesson. Do you remember, how to say „three“ in Norwegian? We have learned numbers in the previous lesson. Right, tre. Veldig bra. Today – in Norwegian – i dag, yes,   i dag, we‘ll continue to learn modal verbs, learn conjunctions, and widen our Norwegian vocabulary by names of professions.

In the second lesson we learned one modal verb   å kunne - to be able.

The present tense of modal verbs should be learned by heart, because, differently from the majority, it isn‘t made by adding the ending -r to the infinitive. When the infinitive goes after a verb, it is used without particle å.

For instance, jeg kan snakke norsk – I can speak Norwegian. We don‘t say: jeg kan å snakke norsk. Let‘s repeat together: jeg kan snakke norsk.

å kunne

to be able

jeg kan snakke norsk

I can speak Norwegian

It‘s useful for us to learn those verbs, because then we will be able to form many more questions, and make ourselves understood easier.

• - Ema, kan du hjelpe oss med modale verb? Ema, can you help us with modal verbs?
• - Ja, jeg kan hjelpe.
• - So, here you can see other modal verbs:

å ville

to want

vil

I want, you want, and so on

  å ville vil

å kunne

to be able

kan

I am able, you are able, and so on

  å kunne kan

  å skulle skal

Å skulle – skal - a subsidiary verb in making the future tense in Norwegian. We‘ll talk about it in oncoming lessons.

å måtte

must/ have to

må

I must, you must, and so on

  å måtte må

å burde

should

bør

I should, you should, and so on

  å burde bør

These verbs are also called ,,hjelpeverb“ - subsidiary verbs, because with their help perfektum and futurum tenses are made in Norwegian. We‘ll talk about them in later norwegianABC.com lessons.

Modal verbs say how somebody makes something, or how somebody acts. They cannot stand alone in a sentence. Their purpose is to „help“ the main verb.

Look:

Jeg vil se på TV.

I want to watch TV

As you can see, „vil“ is helping the verb „se“: jeg vil se. Let‘s repeat with Ema:

• - Jeg vil se på TV.

Let‘s try to make sentences with other modal verbs, with the purpose to memorize them better. Another modal verb is å kunne (to be able) – kan (I am able, you are able, and so on) . Example: Jeg kan male.

• - Jan says that he can paint.

  å male

to paint

Jeg maler

I paint

Jeg kan male

I can paint

• - And I am not really able to paint, so I'll say what I can do:

Jeg kan bake brød.

I can bake some bread.

  et brød

a noun of neuter gender, meaning „bread“

Just say what you can do. Think a little, I am waiting. I hope you were bold and showed off your skills, and told more than one sentence with the modal verb å kunne – kan . Veldig bra! I'm proud of you!

Do you remember, which modal verbs are left? Perhaps not  I‘ll remind you: å skulle – skal . That is a subsidiary verb, used in making future tense in Norwegian. If we say, for instance, jeg skal male, it will mean „I will paint“. How wonderful, now we will be able to express our intentions in future tense, when we want to say what we plan to do! Look:

Jeg skal gå.

I will go.

Du skal gå.

You have to / must go.

• - Veldig bra. Let‘s go on.

Another modal verb, which we are going to learn, is å måtte (must/have to) – må (I must, you must, and so on). Å måtte – må. Let‘s listen, to a sentence Jan has made with this verb.

• - Jan, skal du hjelpe oss? Jan, will you help us?
• - Ja. Jeg kan hjelpe og jeg skal hjelpe. Jeg må tenke litt.
• -   kjempebra! Wonderful, we have just heard Jan say three sentences with modal verbs: jeg kan hjelpe, jeg skal hjelpe, jeg må tenke.

Say, what does this mean: jeg kan hjelpe - I can help - jeg kan hjelpe. Right! And what does this mean: jeg skal hjelpe. Yes, it means „I will help“. Fint! And: jeg må tenke litt – I must / I have to think a little. Jeg må tenke litt.   litt, as you have understood already, means „a little“.

  jeg kan hjelpe

I can help

  jeg skal hjelpe

I will help

  jeg må tenke litt

I must / I have to think a little

• - Vel, vi må fortsette videre. We must continue further.   å fortsette – continue. Videre – further. Vi må fortsette videre.

Vi må fortsette videre.

We must continue further.

  å fortsette

continue

  videre

further

Another modal verb is å burde (should) – bør (I should)

Jeg bør snakke norsk.

I should speak Norwegian.

• - Ema, what example with å burde – bør will you give?
• - Jeg bør hjelpe.

Jeg bør hjelpe.

I should help.

• - Veldig bra, takk skal du ha, Ema.

So we have already looked through the modal verbs. Let‘s rest a bit from grammar and learn some names of professions, and also, how to ask what the person you meet does in life. When wanting to know what a particular person does, we ask:

  hva er ditt yrke?

What is your profession?

  et yrke

a noun of neuter gender, meaning ,,profession“.

• - Let‘s repeat together: Hva er ditt yrke?
• - And I respond: jeg er norsk lærer – I am a Norwegian language teacher. Jeg er norsk lærer. Jan, hva er ditt yrke?
• - Jeg er maler. – I am a painter.

Do you remember, today we have learned a new verb: å male – to paint. Å male – to paint, en maler – a painter. Remember the norwegianABC.com lesson about noun genders? Yes? Then tell me, how do you say “a painter” in Norwegian? Think, I‘m waiting. „A painter“ in Norwegian would be: ei maler. Or en maler – yes, right, we can use both articles, but if you want to stress that you are a painter of a feminine gender, then you will have to say: ei maler.

When specifying your profession, you don‘t need to use an article. For instance, we say: Jeg er maler. You can name a profession of desired gender by adding the article „en“ for the masculine gender, or „ei“ – for the feminine one. Since there is another rule, that in most cases you can use the article of masculine gender for feminine gender, feel free to do so.

Still, in some cases the titles of professions of women and men differ, for instance:

  en kokk

a cook

  ei kokke

a female cook

Remember, that the article is not used in a sentence describing profession, for instance: Jeg er kokke – I am a cook. Is it clear? So, repeat after me:

  en ingeniør

An engineer

  en sveiser

A welder

  en daglig leder

A director

  en sjåfør

A driver

  en kokk

A cook

  ei kokke

A female cook

  en sykepleier

A nurse

  en lege

A doctor

  en regnskapsfører

An accountant

  en rengjøringsarbeider

A cleaner

  en elektriker

An electrician

  en prosjektleder

A project manager

  en jurist

A lawyer

  en bonde

A farmer

  en postmann

A postman

  en student

A student

We will ask Ema to help us do an exercise: I‘ll describe a profession in English, and after a short pause – in Norwegian. You listen and try to say in Norwegian what the profession is, OK?

If you manage to concentrate well, repeat the profession’s description in Norwegian. After a pause, Ema will help to check if you guessed it correctly. Don‘t forget to repeat the profession title together with her. Ready? Er dere klare? Let‘s try.

I can paint.

Jeg kan male.

Jeg er maler.

I can weld.

Jeg kan sveise.

Jeg er sveiser.

I can draw.

Jeg kan tegne.

Jeg er ingeniør.

I can drive.

Jeg kan kjøre.

Jeg er sjåfør.

Pay attention to the pronunciation of the word kjøre. Jeg kan kjøre. So do you know what this profession is called?

I can heal.

Jeg kan behandle.

Jeg er lege.

I can count.

Jeg kan regne.

Jeg er regnskapsfører.

I can farm.

Jeg kan dyrke jorden.

Jeg er bonde.

I can work with electrical equipment.

Jeg kan arbeide på elektriske installasjoner.

Jeg er elektriker.

I can deliver mail.

Jeg kan levere post.

Jeg er postmann.

I can study.

Jeg kan studere.

Jeg er student.

I can manage a company.

Jeg kan lede en bedrift.

Jeg er daglig leder.

I can provide legal assistance.

Jeg kan yte rettshjelp.

Jeg er jurist.

I can manage a project.

Jeg kan lede et prosjekt.

Jeg er prosjektleder.

I can cook.

Jeg kan lage mat.

Jeg er kokk. Eller: jeg er kokke.

I can help patients.

Jeg kan hjelpe syke mennesker.

Jeg er sykepleier.

I can make things clean.

Jeg kan gjøre rent.

Jeg er rengjøringsarbeider.

Så fint! How wonderful! Dere er veldig flinke! This exercise wasn‘t easy, but you were great at profession titles! When learning them you may have even forgotten how to ask a person about his profession. No? Yes, we ask exactly this way: Hva er ditt yrke? And if I ask you: hva er ditt yrke? What will you answer? Fint! Moreover, try to say what you can do as a representative of your profession. Let‘s begin: Jeg kan... Did you do it? Bra!

We're getting to the end of the lesson, so let‘s learn some Norwegian conjunctions ,,konjunksjoner“, that's the words „and, or, if, though“, and so on. We need them very much, just so we can make fluent and beautiful sentences.

• - Er ikke det sant, Jan? Isn’t that right, Jan?
• - Ja, det er sant. Konjunksjoner er veldig viktig.
• - Yes, konjuksjoner er veldig viktig. So, let‘s begin. La oss begynne:

  og

And

  at

That, in order to

  men

But

  eller

Or

  for

Because

  fordi

For

  hvis

If

  da

Whereas

  som

Which

  slik at så at

Such that

  siden

Since then

  om

Or, if

  enda, selv om

Though

  når

As, while

So we have just learned some conjunctions - konjunksjoner. Today I‘ll give you homework to learn them by heart. We‘ll need them in the next lesson

We hope that you have fun learning Norwegian together with Ema and me. We will help you to learn beautiful and proper Norwegian language! Even as of today you know quite a bit, so we are going to continue norwegianABC.com lessons with joy. Ha det bra alle sammen, vi høres neste gang. Goodbye to you all!

• - Ha det bra alle sammen!