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Lesson Transcript

Intro

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… What’s the difference between min bil and bilen min?
Explanation
People tend to ask this question because in English you just say “my car” for both. So, let's have a look at the differences between these two.
When we put the possessive pronoun before the noun, it sounds slightly formal and old-fashioned. Also, it emphasizes the ownership.
Let’s do some examples so you can learn how to use min bil and bilen min correctly.
In the sentence, Det er min bil, meaning “It is my car,” you’re clearly stating that it’s your car and no one else’s.
When we put the pronoun min meaning “my” after the noun, we have to change the noun bil or “car” to the definite form bilen meaning “the car.” To have the pronoun after the noun is more natural and more often used when spoken.
When you're scolding someone, you put the pronoun first. For example din latsabb which means “You slacker.”
We also have the expression Din somlekopp!
Å somle is a verb that means “to linger,” “to dawdle,” or “to take time.” Kopp means “cup,” so this literally means “linger cup.” We use this phrase for anyone that is slow or taking too much time.
If you put the pronoun after, you're not scolding anymore. If you say somlekoppen min it literally translates rather affectionately as, “My dear dawdler.”

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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