Learn how to make formal inquiries in Norwegian and how to be polite
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yura : Hi there, Yura here, and welcome back to NorwegianClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 22 - In a Norwegian Office. |
| Filip : Velkommen! I’m Filip. |
| Yura : Now this lesson should be useful for people who are coming to Norway on business trips! |
| Filip : Not only them, if you are in formal situations or just like to be polite, this is also a good lesson for you. |
| Yura : Sure, you can go a long way with being polite, and it’s not so hard to do in Norwegian. |
| Filip : True. Luckily, polite Norwegian isn’t as hard as some other languages that have completely different ways of speaking in formal settings. |
| Yura : Our formal conversation takes place in Espen’s office, and it’s between Espen and his coworker. |
| Filip : That’s right. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Espen: Unnskyld, kunne du kopiert dette for meg? |
| Employee : Ja, så klart. Nå med en gang? |
| Espen: Ja det hadde vært fint om du kunne. |
| Employee : Så klart! Jeg leverer det til pulten din når jeg er ferdig. |
| Espen: Tusen takk skal du ha! (Mark comes in) Å hei Mark! Står til? |
| Mark : Joda, brare bra. Travel? |
| Espen: Neida, la oss gå ut for lunsj. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Espen: Unnskyld, kunne du kopiert dette for meg? |
| Employee : Ja, så klart. Nå med en gang? |
| Espen: Ja det hadde vært fint om du kunne. |
| Employee : Så klart! Jeg leverer det til pulten din når jeg er ferdig. |
| Espen: Tusen takk skal du ha! (Mark comes in) Å hei Mark! Står til? |
| Mark : Joda, brare bra. Travel? |
| Espen: Neida, la oss gå ut for lunsj. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Espen: Unnskyld, kunne du kopiert dette for meg? |
| Yura : Excuse me, could you copy this for me? |
| Employee : Ja, så klart. Nå med en gang? |
| Yura : Yes, of course. Right now? |
| Espen: Ja det hadde vært fint om du kunne. |
| Yura : Yes, that would be great if you could. |
| Employee : Så klart! Jeg leverer det til pulten din når jeg er ferdig. |
| Yura : Of course! I’ll deliver it to your desk when I’m done. |
| Espen: Tusen takk skal du ha! (Mark comes in) Å hei Mark! Står til? |
| Yura : Thank you so much! (Mark comes inn) Oh hi Mark! You good? |
| Mark : Joda, brare bra. Travel? |
| Yura : Sure, I’m fine. Busy? |
| Espen: Neida, la oss gå ut for lunsj. |
| Yura : No no, let’s go out for lunch. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yura : So Filip, tell us about working conditions and salaries in Norway. |
| Filip : Well, they’re probably some of the best in the world. Workers normally have an 8-hour working day, and everything over is paid overtime, which is at least a 40% increase in salary. Salaries themselves are the highest in the world right now as well. There are also a lot of rules and regulations that back up workers’ rights. |
| Yura : Hmm, sounds nice! It sounds like paradise - high salaries and properly protected by law. |
| Filip : Well yeah, but we also pay a tax that is normally around 36%. |
| Yura : Wow, isn’t that a bit high? |
| Filip : When you look at all the things you get back, not really. All education except private is free, hospitals, insurance at work, and retirement pensions are all accounted for! |
| Yura : That is a good deal! How about the social part? |
| Filip : Well a lot of companies have social events like trips or seminars for their staff, and all companies have a party at Christmas time, called “julebord.” |
| Yura : What do people do at these “julebord?” |
| Filip : To put it simply, they drink a lot. It’s a thing almost every single company in Norway does, and it’s acceptable to get drunk. It’s only once a year after all. |
| Yura : Have you been to any yourself? |
| Filip : Of course ! But I’m not going into the details of that... |
| Yura (laughs), okay! Let’s move onto the vocabulary then. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Yura : Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Filip : kan [natural native speed] |
| Yura : can, may |
| Filip : kan [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : kan [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : å kopiere (kopiere) [natural native speed] |
| Yura : to copy (copy) |
| Filip : å kopiere (kopiere) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : å kopiere (kopiere) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : så klart [natural native speed] |
| Yura : of course |
| Filip : så klart [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : så klart [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : (nå) med en gang [natural native speed] |
| Yura : right now, at once |
| Filip : (nå) med en gang [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : (nå) med en gang [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : å levere [natural native speed] |
| Yura : to hand over, to deliver |
| Filip : levere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : levere [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : pult [natural native speed] |
| Yura : desk |
| Filip : pult [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : pult [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : ferdig [natural native speed] |
| Yura : finished |
| Filip : ferdig [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : ferdig [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : travel [natural native speed] |
| Yura : busy |
| Filip : travel [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : travel [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Filip : lunsj [natural native speed] |
| Yura : lunch |
| Filip : lunsj [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Filip : lunsj [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Yura: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. I just found one confusing thing in this lesson’s vocabulary. |
| Filip : and what was that? |
| Yura : The one that means “right now”, or “at once”. |
| Filip : Ah yes, “Nå med en gang”. It translates more directly to “now at once”. |
| Yura : ah, so “En gang” means “once”? |
| Filip : Correct. And you don’t have to say “nå” in the beginning either. nå only emphasizes the fact that we are talking about “right now.” |
| Yura : Ah, I see. Well, the rest of the vocab and sentences were very similar in usage to the English, so let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Yura : All right, it’s time for some grammar. What do we have for this lesson, Filip? |
| Filip : We are learning about formal inquiries, and asking for favors. |
| Yura : That sounds useful! |
| Filip : It sure is! Not only in formal situations, but even when asking friends, we tend to be polite. It’s probably because the chance of actually getting help is bigger when you’re polite. |
| Yura : I believe so too. Can you please do me a favor then Filip, and give us some examples? |
| Filip : I sure can! Here are some examples of asking for favors in a formal way. The grammar is no different than what we have learned before, so it should be fine. After, we will take a look at how it changes when we add “please.” |
| Filip : Kan du åpne døren for meg? |
| Yura : Can you open the door for me? |
| Filip : Kan jeg låne en paraply? |
| Yura : Can I borrow an umbrella? |
| Filip : Kan du hjelpe meg? |
| Yura : Can you help me? |
| Filip : Simple enough, now let’s add “vær så snill,” the Norwegian for “please.” |
| Filip : Kan du være så snill å åpne døren for meg? |
| Yura : Can you please open the door for me? |
| Filip : Kan jeg vær så snill å låne en paraply? |
| Yura : Can I please borrow an umbrella? |
| Filip : Kan du være så snill å hjelpe meg? |
| Yura : Can you please help me? |
| Yura : Hey Filip, why is the Norwegian for “please” slightly different when you are referring to yourself? |
| Filip : Ah, you mean when I say “vær så snill” about myself and “være så snill” about others? |
| Yura : Yes. |
| Filip : In the case of others, to get the grammar correct, you must conjugate the verb “Å være” in dictionary form. Though many people don’t bother doing this, it is the correct way. |
| Yura : And why don’t you do it in the case of yourself? |
| Filip : The sentence “Vær så snill” means “Please” but with a direct translation, it means “do be so kind.” in the case of oneself, this isn’t really correct to use, but we do it anyway. Because it’s already grammatically wrong, we don’t change it. |
| Yura : I see. You mentioned that “vær så snill” is “be so kind,” and that makes sense in English as well. |
| Filip : Yes, but few people use it. Even Norwegians use the word “please,” but only with friends. Also good to mention, is the “å” between “vær så snill” and the verb. It has the same function as the English “to”. |
| Let’s look at those sentences again, this time with a more literal English translation. |
| Filip : Kan du være så snill å åpne døren for meg? |
| Yura : Can you be so kind as to open the door for me? |
| Filip : Kan jeg være så snill å låne en paraply? |
| Yura : Word for word this is, Can I be so kind as to borrow an umbrella? but it doesn’t work in English. It’s essentially a very strong “Can I please borrow an umbrella?” |
| Filip : Kan du være så snill å hjelpe meg? |
| Yura : Can you be so kind as to help me? |
| Yura : Yes I hear it now, the “å” and the “to”. |
| Filip : Yes, it is there to bind the sentence together, as I mentioned before. It is always added after please and before the verb. |
Outro |
| Yura : And that is it for now. Hope you learned something, and please be so kind as to study the lesson well. |
| Filip : Now now, don’t overdo the politeness Yura! |
| Yura : (laughs), You have to use it or lose it! |
| Filip : (laughs) I guess so. But thank you for listening in, and we will see you again soon! |
| Yura : Bye bye! |
| Filip : Hade bra! |
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