Learn some of the most common "false friends" in Norwegian
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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 for this lesson is... What are the most common “false friends” in Norwegian? |
| There are lots of words that look similar in English and Norwegian, but they don't always mean the same thing. It's pretty fitting that they're called “false friends,” because they can be deceptive! |
| Here are some of the most common ones, so you can avoid any miscommunication the next time you speak Norwegian! |
| Do in Norwegian is a noun for "toilet." It’s pretty casual, so if you’re talking to someone you don’t know that well, it’d be better to use toalett instead, which translates as “bathroom” or “restroom.” For example, if you want to say that you need to go to the toilet in an informal way, you would say, Jeg må på do. “I have to go to the toilet.” Literally, it means, “I have to toilet.” |
| Another commonly confused word is dress. Dress in Norwegian means "suit." If you want to say “dress,” like one girls might wear, you have to use the word kjole. |
| You have also maybe seen the word eventuelt. Eventuelt does not mean "eventually," but "maybe,” “perhaps,” or possible." So if someone says Jeg kommer eventuelt senere, it doesn't mean that “They’ll eventually come later,” it means that, “They might come later.” |
| The most funny false friend, is perhaps fart. Fart in Norwegian means “speed” and you will most likely see this word when you drive in Norway. A sign that is often placed by roads is farts dempere which means “speed bumps.” |
| I hope that clears things up. Pretty interesting, right? |
| Please leave any more questions in the comments below and I'll try to answer them! |
| Hade. Vi sees snart! “Bye. See you soon!” |
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