Learn how to distinguish between når and da
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Intro |
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| Hi everybody! Anette here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Norwegian questions. |
| The Question |
| The question for this lesson is… When do I use når and when do I use da? |
| Explanation |
| A lot of people think it’s difficult to distinguish between når and da, even Norwegians themselves! Both translate as “when” in English. |
| Let’s go over some examples so you can learn how to use når and da correctly. |
| When you talk about something that is happening now or has happened several times, you use når. |
| Here’s an example—Når jeg ler, begynner jeg å hikke meaning, “When I laugh, I start to hiccup.” In this sentence, the speaker is talking about what happens every time he or she laughs, so we use når. |
| When you talk about the past or something that happened once, you use da. For example, Da vi dro, regnet det meaning “When we left, it rained.” In this sentence, the speaker is talking about an event that happened in the past, so we need da. |
| A good rule to remember, which Norwegians also use, is -- |
| Den gang da, hver gang når. This means, “We use da on that particular occasion and når on each occasion.” |
Outro |
| How was this lesson? Pretty interesting, right? |
| Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! |
| Hade. Vi sees snart! “Bye. See you soon!” |
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